Anyone bothering with sclerotinia sprays?

[Brisel]

Scletortinia is a certainty here not just a risk (i'm reasonably west) and about the only thing we spray for prophylacticly - i've trialed no fungicide and reduced fungicide programmes on wheat and highest MOIC still comes from a decent fungicide programme

On OSR my trails showed the opposite and that's why I don't use fungicides on OSR unless we were ton have a extreme season

Hmm. Sclerotinia prediction is somewhat crude. Assuming you're about to get some rain & your crop is in flower I'd say the risk will be high as temperatures have risen. Here's the AHDB monitor site;

https://ahdb.org.uk/sclerotinia

i don't get seed dressing at all - completely unnecessary, I mean who thought that routinely coating a seed (that has to work with soil fungi) with a fungicide was ever a good idea ?

It's a good sales opportunity for another insurance policy - some of which is for diseased seed... I agree. Healthy seed needs no treatment.

 

[Clive]

Agreed, but surely is a level of gambling and that is where the level plant protection comes in.
I stick a fiver on the national, but I'm not sat in the bookies every day.

have you ever had a headache ? I expect you have

Did a paracetamol or Nurafen help ? ............. probably

would you take a headache pill every morning "just in case" you get a headache that day ? ...................... expect not (most days it would be waste of money and probably not healthy long term !)



this is how we farm and its not healthy or economic, it HAS to change

 

[Feldspar]

Is it really that simple? A simple yes or no? Doesn't take into account any risk management or probability of a problem potentially occurring. After the event we can say we should have or didn't need to do this or that.

Granted attitude and the mentality of the farmer probably plays the biggest part. A gambler may grow a very good crop with lower input cost. Other years he may get it wrong. How risk averse the grower is.

I'm not a gambler and indeed a worrier - I know my place

I think you have to specify too what the maximum you can stand to lose in any one bet too. On average it might be more profitable to not spray, but if the range of possible outcomes is large, you might not be able to stomach the worst outcome.

 

[Clive]

Hmm. Sclerotinia prediction is somewhat crude. Assuming you're about to get some rain & your crop is in flower I'd say the risk will be high as temperatures have risen. Here's the AHDB monitor site;

https://ahdb.org.uk/sclerotinia



It's a good sales opportunity for another insurance policy - some of which is for diseased seed... I agree. Healthy seed needs no treatment.

My decision not to spray is based on several years of seeing no return on doing so along with the monitor site you link and http://map.cropmonitor.co.uk/map?_ga=2.34590049.1598080771.1556019153-498821210.1556019153

I don't think i'm risking anything not spraying right now

 

[Brisel]

I think you have to specify too what the maximum you can stand to lose in any one bet too. On average it might be more profitable to not spray, but if the range of possible outcomes is large, you might not be able to stomach the worst outcome.

I've mentioned before about putting the money you'd spend on a flowering fungicide in an ISA every year to cover you for the one year in 10 when we get the disease!

have you ever had a headache ? I expect you have

Did a paracetamol or Nurafen help ? ............. probably

would you take a headache pill every morning "just in case" you get a headache that day ? ...................... expect not (most days it would be waste of money and probably not healthy long term !)



this is how we farm and its not healthy or economic, it HAS to change

Here we go again. Why do you comprehensively insure your cars & machinery, Clive?

 

[Zippy768]

I think you have to specify too what the maximum you can stand to lose in any one bet too. On average it might be more profitable to not spray, but if the range of possible outcomes is large, you might not be able to stomach the worst outcome.

Yes exactly. It isn't a simple need/not need to spray.
Some people will be able to stomach more than others. It's just the level of risk the grower "enjoys"

 

[Brisel]

Yes exactly. It isn't a simple need/not need to spray.
Some people will be able to stomach more than others. It's just the level of risk the grower "enjoys"

 

[Zippy768]

have you ever had a headache ? I expect you have

Did a paracetamol or Nurafen help ? ............. probably

would you take a headache pill every morning "just in case" you get a headache that day ? ...................... expect not (most days it would be waste of money and probably not healthy long term !)



this is how we farm and its not healthy or economic, it HAS to change

That's different - treating a symptom.
Many things can only be prevented rather than cured, sclerotinia for example.
Also ability to react is something to consider.

Re paracetamol. If I feel run down I will take a couple a day and some Berocca, to keep a cold away. And it works

 

[Clive]

That's different - treating a symptom.
Many things can only be prevented rather than cured, sclerotinia for example.
Also ability to react is something to consider.

Re paracetamol. If I feel run down I will take a couple a day and some Berocca, to keep a cold away. And it works

its no different at all - treating a headache you "might" get is no different to spraying for Scelrotinia that you "might" get


are you going to start taking a Paracetamol every day ? after all every day has potential to be a headache day ?

 

[Clive]

How many of you actually use tools like Crop monitor to determine risk based on REAL data not just gut feel, habit or what a ag chem sales man is telling you to do ?

http://map.cropmonitor.co.uk/map?_ga=2.34590049.1598080771.1556019153-498821210.1556019153

 

[Brisel]

How many of you actually use tools like Crop monitor to determine risk based on REAL data not just gut feel, habit or what a ag chem sales man is telling you to do ?

http://map.cropmonitor.co.uk/map?_ga=2.34590049.1598080771.1556019153-498821210.1556019153

I do! I think they are great for a guide. No substitute for your own weather patterns & growth stages on your own farm but easy to read at a glance.

My AHDB link is more up to date as well - the FERA site a few miles away is well out of date. They haven't even started monitoring the osr yet!

 

[An Gof]

Hmm. Sclerotinia prediction is somewhat crude. Assuming you're about to get some rain & your crop is in flower I'd say the risk will be high as temperatures have risen. Here's the AHDB monitor site;

https://ahdb.org.uk/sclerotinia



It's a good sales opportunity for another insurance policy - some of which is for diseased seed... I agree. Healthy seed needs no treatment.

I use the NIAB Tag model for prediction here. Im lucky to have an on farm weather station for the data. Need to record rainfall and daily min/max temperatures. The model looks at rainfall and the rolling 7 day average temperature. When you exceed 11C as the the rolling average and combine with a weather event of rain then you need to spray. Here is the graph of actual data for my farm. If you are in SE Cornwall and haven't put a spray on then you need to do it this afternoon before it rains tomorrow.

 

[Oat]

That's different - treating a symptom.
Many things can only be prevented rather than cured, sclerotinia for example.
Also ability to react is something to consider.

Re paracetamol. If I feel run down I will take a couple a day and some Berocca, to keep a cold away. And it works

That's different - treating a symptom.
Many things can only be prevented rather than cured, sclerotinia for example.
Also ability to react is something to consider.

Re paracetamol. If I feel run down I will take a couple a day and some Berocca, to keep a cold away. And it works

I agree with @Zippy768, in the case of sclerotinia, it is better to apply a preventative treatment. I don't think there are any fungicides that will have a curative effect against it.

I am not advocating that all oilseed rape should be sprayed routinely, but you need to look at the risk factors- either AHDB/Crop Monitor forecasts, and most importantly, your own local knowledge and observations. If the petals have not started to fall and conditions are dry there is probably no point. But if petals are falling, its humid and damp, then the risk will be much higher and treatment may be justified.

 

[jonnyjon]

Spraying a crop because it "might" get a disease is a road to ruin, keep doing that and you will need to keep doing it , we create our own problems, in the murky world of Agri inputs, the more you use, the more you need to use, it's a win win for the industry, a lose lose for the farmer, the consumer and the planet IMO. We must change our attitude and work on preventing the problem instead of treating symptoms with carcinogens

 

[An Gof]

Spraying a crop because it "might" get a disease is a road to ruin, keep doing that and you will need to keep doing it , we create our own problems, in the murky world of Agri inputs, the more you use, the more you need to use, it's a win win for the industry, a lose lose for the farmer, the consumer and the planet IMO. We must change our attitude and work on preventing the problem instead of treating symptoms with carcinogens

You need to be able to identify prophylactic treatments from curative treatments.
Live in the far SW where rainfall is high in the autumn and there is a risk from delaying drilling that if the weather breaks you may not get it in and you are committed to BYDV sprays because you might get a problem.

 

[ajd132]

I wonder why the chemical companies only provide chemicals that have to be applied just in case in long, expensive and time consuming ‘programs’

 

[An Gof]

I wonder why the chemical companies only provide chemicals that have to be applied just in case in long, expensive and time consuming ‘programs’

Do you have a better idea for virus transmitted diseases where control of the vector is the only solution?

 

[jonnyjon]

Do you have a better idea for virus transmitted diseases where control of the vector is the only solution?

Work on improving soil health and problems start to reduce quite quickly, that is what I'm seeing

 

[ajd132]

Do you have a better idea for virus transmitted diseases where control of the vector is the only solution?

What, septoria?

 

[ajd132]

Work on improving soil health and problems start to reduce quite quickly, that is what I'm seeing

I hope you are correct, we are certainly seeing similar results here too. I decided today that there is huge opportunities if chemicals getting banned and we are forced to go cold turkey.