bean weevil and bruchid beetles

juke

Member
Location
DURHAM
thought this might be the best place to ask, we aren't using insecticides but I was wondering if people get to a point that forces them into using insecticides if they find an infestation of the above or do they just take the chance that beneficals will keep the damage to a minimum ..

this is our first full season of no insectcides at all including seed dressings n nothing out the sprayer for 2 seasons if that has any baring on the issue above.
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
Not DD but never sprayed bean weevil and given up with bruchid years ago. However they are definitely a problem I just find that spraying makes no difference. I have had to spray beans for thrips before and I believe if I hadn’t would have suffered severe yield loss. Very few insecticides used elsewhere on the farm.
 

Adeptandy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
PE15
Im trying too avoid insecticides on everything from the sprayer, much to my agronomists nay saying, have used Austral Plus on the wheat and Deter on the W Barley this year due to coming out of HLS grass on 1 block though :cautious:
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
I also avoid insecticides where possible but did treat for weevil on young bean plants last year because of excessive pressure. The leaf notching was tolerable but the numbers seen would have damaged the root nodules. By the time the crop was at flowering the drought and high temperatures made it already beyond the point of wanting to spend any more, not that I'd spray for bruchid anyway. Other local growers who did still got downgraded to feed for bruchid damage which made me feel a little better!
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
I try to avoid insecticide use but too often beneficial insect populations lag well behind when the population of pest insects are exploding...

Last year my neighbour sprayed for Brucid twice, I didn't, neither of us could find a bean at harvest without a hole...

I am still in 2 mind about how effective attempts to control weevil here have been in the past.
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
Beans don't fail seed because of bruchid.


It's only the Egyptians dislike of holy beans that gets them downgraded.
Mine were quite high bruchid this year, but still made human grade because of the abysmal quality and yields elsewhere.
 

cows r us

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Buckinghamshire
Beans don't fail seed because of bruchid.


It's only the Egyptians dislike of holy beans that gets them downgraded.
Mine were quite high bruchid this year, but still made human grade because of the abysmal quality and yields elsewhere.
On top of that does the premium cover the cost of the extra spray?
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
On top of that does the premium cover the cost of the extra spray?
Not in my view, no.
To go through as often as the bruchid forecast wants means just insecticide in the tank, so the extra passes, extra damage, extra chems outweigh the premium imo.
Plus I like to think I get more yield due to better pollination as the bees are left alone to do their stuff.
 

Gong Farmer

Member
BASIS
Location
S E Glos
Not sure we have ever generated a yield response to weevil sprays, any warnings about nodule damage has come from text books rather than trials records or field observations. I'll check archives later if I get chance. Spoke to someone at Cereals yesterday who had seen significant notching on spring bean leaves, eventually got a spray on but eggs may have been laid by then as crop turned yellow soon after and he was tempted to put some N on. He didn't (obviously) and crop recovered to be healthy now and waist high. Maybe that alludes to PGRO comment?
 
They said they counted the number of larvae on the nodules then measured the yield from non 1 or2 or more there was no difference

Looking at my beans there are 2 or 3 larvae per plant with each plant having a lot of nodules so only a small percentage of nodules affected

I am sure there has been no definitive trial done on the yield loss
So the view taken in the past is nodules get eaten must be detrimental so spray for weevil
But if spray reduces benificials and pollinators this may reduce yields
There has been trials that show that more pollinators in beans increase yield
Beans are a unpredictable crop more so that osr but cost significantly less to grow very rewarding when you unexpectedly get 5 tonne a ha
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
They said they counted the number of larvae on the nodules then measured the yield from non 1 or2 or more there was no difference

Looking at my beans there are 2 or 3 larvae per plant with each plant having a lot of nodules so only a small percentage of nodules affected

I am sure there has been no definitive trial done on the yield loss
So the view taken in the past is nodules get eaten must be detrimental so spray for weevil
But if spray reduces benificials and pollinators this may reduce yields
There has been trials that show that more pollinators in beans increase yield
Beans are a unpredictable crop more so that osr but cost significantly less to grow very rewarding when you unexpectedly get 5 tonne a ha
That's 4 and a bit more than I got last year... :facepalm::banghead::banghead: Plenty of biomass this year but, and I hope I am wrong, my pod set doesn't look to be very exciting.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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