Can rolling alone kill leatherjackets in cereal crops?

[Handy Andy]

The title says it all. My neighbour has an infestation of them in a crop of spring barley which went in behind a two year grass ley that never got ploughed up till February because of the wet winter. He power harrowed it then went through with a spring tine cultivator a week or so later in the hope of getting rid of them which clearly hasn't worked. He was rolling it with a flat roll this afternoon so I stopped to chat with him ( at a safe distance of course ) I suggested that he borrow our grass harrow to break the surface and let the rooks have a go at them but he dismissed the idea saying that the soil would dry out too much if we didn't get any rain and then the crop would struggle. I still think it would be a good idea to do it in a day or two even though he's pressed it down quite hard. The bare patches in the field are getting bigger so he's got nothing much to lose. After he'd gone home I nipped through a gap in the hedge and scratched around a bit and found plenty of live leathers but no squashed ones. What do other folks think?

 

[deleted user 837354]

Normally the spring barley grows so fast the leatherjackets won't have a chance to really hammer the crop. Seed bed needs to be fine and warm and conditions growy.

 

[Brisel]

It would have been best to plough it a while ago and leave it open for the rooks & crows to eat the grubs but that's no use now! The leatherjackets have had a green bridge to keep them going.

I agree with Ollie - the barley should grow away from damage but he's going to have to live with what has already been eaten. There is no chemical that would kill them now since we lost Dursban years ago. Any further passes will just damage the crop further - it's under enough pressure already.

 

[Flat 10]

The title says it all. My neighbour has an infestation of them in a crop of spring barley which went in behind a two year grass ley that never got ploughed up till February because of the wet winter. He power harrowed it then went through with a spring tine cultivator a week or so later in the hope of getting rid of them which clearly hasn't worked. He was rolling it with a flat roll this afternoon so I stopped to chat with him ( at a safe distance of course ) I suggested that he borrow our grass harrow to break the surface and let the rooks have a go at them but he dismissed the idea saying that the soil would dry out too much if we didn't get any rain and then the crop would struggle. I still think it would be a good idea to do it in a day or two even though he's pressed it down quite hard. The bare patches in the field are getting bigger so he's got nothing much to lose. After he'd gone home I nipped through a gap in the hedge and scratched around a bit and found plenty of live leathers but no squashed ones. What do other folks think?

It will kill very few. What it does is help the barley tiller and slow the movement of them.

 

[Farmer Fin]

It would have been best to plough it a while ago and leave it open for the rooks & crows to eat the grubs but that's no use now! The leatherjackets have had a green bridge to keep them going.

I agree with Ollie - the barley should grow away from damage but he's going to have to live with what has already been eaten. There is no chemical that would kill them now since we lost Dursban years ago. Any further passes will just damage the crop further - it's under enough pressure already.

The current thinking around here is to plough just in front of the drill. The thought being the fresh buried turf gives the grubs something to eat whilst the barley grows away.

 

[Brisel]

The current thinking around here is to plough just in front of the drill. The thought being the fresh buried turf gives the grubs something to eat whilst the barley grows away.

Sounds logical and it would allow you to graze the grass right up to the point of cultivation. That's a tactic used by no tillers for slug control after osr - let them eat the volunteers while the wheat grows away.

 

[Dave488]

We had a field of grass that was badly affected by leather jackets, when we applied digestate it seemed to draw them to the surface and there were literally nose to tail across the whole field, the digestate seemed to kill them, so if your neighbour could source an digestate locally that might work

 

[redsloe]

Found this last week in an field that has been arable for 20 years. The last time it had grass was when there was a payment for linseed in the early days of farm payments.
First spring sown crop in all that time.

What is wrong with the world these days!

 

[Steevo]

Sounds logical and it would allow you to graze the grass right up to the point of cultivation. That's a tactic used by no tillers for slug control after osr - let them eat the volunteers while the wheat grows away.

Never quite understood this.

a) surely feeding them up to planting causes them to keep breeding?
b) my guess is a slug would choose OSR over wheat if they had a choice of both menu options

I’d prefer a dose of pellets a week before, and another once planted.

 

[Brisel]

It’s not a risk I’d take when starving them in advance is a better bet. Plenty of people drilling “on the green” swear by it but that takes bigger balls than I’ve got and a better drill.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Found this last week in an field that has been arable for 20 years. The last time it had grass was when there was a payment for linseed in the early days of farm payments.
First spring sown crop in all that time.

What is wrong with the world these days!

He doing no harm, that barley is up and away. Be covered in by the time you wink.

I reckon leatherjackets and frit fly/gouters etc probably quite happy to overwinter or set up shop on volunteers as much as anything.

 

[Chae1]

There is a product available you can spray them with again.

Unsure what it is haven't needed it yet.

 

[Spencer]

Is it garlic based or have I dreamt that? Got lots of leatherjackets this year.. thinning a few areas of spring crops where green cover was thick. Would grow away with some wet though...

 

[GeorgeK]

Maybe the result of losing neonic cereal dressings?

 

[Brisel]

Is it garlic based or have I dreamt that? Got lots of leatherjackets this year.. thinning a few areas of spring crops where green cover was thick. Would grow away with some wet though...

Paging @Breakthru ….

 

[DrWazzock]

No, rolling will do diddly squat against leather jackets. I nearly rolled a field of spring barley but then I didn’t and it looks fine. I just picked a few big stones off and left it, saving myself a hernia getting the Cambridge rolls opened out and a day of tedium rolling it.

 

[Phil P]

Chlorpyrifos

 

[yellow belly]

I often find leather jackets in fields irispective of the previous crop
now notill so put it down to not moveing the soil never see enough to cause a problem
but it may be that I am looking in the soil and observing the wildlife in the soil much more than I did when we cultivated

because I now notill I have to look in the soil to see what is there rather than see it when it is cultivated to the top
also have more time to look compared with sitting on a tractor going up and down ,up and down all day long

 

[Cowcorn]

Dont know how true or effective it is but years ago we used to roll with a flat roll at night to squash leather jackets . The theory was that the grubs came up to the surface at night .

 

[Breakthru]

He doing no harm, that barley is up and away. Be covered in by the time you wink.

I reckon leatherjackets and frit fly/gouters etc probably quite happy to overwinter or set up shop on volunteers as much as anything.

In the days of Dursban we used to see major problems. Surprisingly not heard or seen the large problems since so assume natural predators which were also nailed by Dursban have now come to the fore and have reduced the problem significantly. Law of unintended consequences.