Flag Leaf Spays Must be Applied This Week 29-05
Crop walkers come once a month or so and give a date
by which fungicides should be applied. Crops grow differently and clients
must now walk the crops themselves to check the Critical Flag leaf Spray
January Sown Wheats dependant on variety
varies between flag leaf completely emerged to leaf 2 (2 being the leaf before
flag leaf). There is very little disease about - warm conditions enabling
susceptible crops to outgrow septoria. Thus T2 flag leaf sprays will take
place next week for most varieties. It is specifically recommended for
all wheats in a maize wheat: maize wheat rotation to receive an ear wash in
addition. In a dry summer there will be limited benefits to this spray
for feed crops, but for once grown seed savers its ESSENTIAL. The
Following recommendations are per acre.
T2 Flag Leaf Emerged Apply 0.25 L Amistar
with 0.15 L Opus per acre.
This is the most responsive and financially rewarding
of all timings. On septoria Susceptible
varieties apply 0.25L Amistar + 0.2L Opus Do not wait until the ear is out.
T3 Ear Fully out from the flag leaf but
before flowering TIMING CRITICAL
For Fusarium Control in Seed Crops or in Maize Wheat Maize Wheat
rotations which are prone to fusarium Amistar 0.1L per acre plus Folicur 0.15L
or Caramba. 0.2L. Critical is
timing - as soon as the ear is out spay - spaying has to be done before
flowering.
How to recognise T2 - Count down from the
topmost emerged emerging leaf down to the two dead leaves at the bottom of the
plant. If you counted 5 leaves then the top leaf is Leaf 2. If 6 were
counted the top leaf is the flag leaf and will need spraying
immediately. Some dead leaves at the bottom of the plant are dead tillers
- these show a spindly stem at the base of the leaf - Ignore these.
The same fungicides & rates can be used on Spring / Winter Barley- albeit Winter
barley is now mostly past spraying stage.
The timing of T2 is when the awns are just visible. Barley is less prone to fusarium so the T3 Spray
(ear wash) can be ignored. Conditions
have been ripe for mildew, the main disease is Rhynchosporium.
ALKALAGE
vs. Fermented Whole Crop Wheat: A
contractor with a Claas Whole Crop Mill and Combine Header - may be beneficial
in a drought year
There is no
financial & nutritional justification for whole crop wheat at the expense
of Maize when there is no AAAid ground
to be had - on or of the farm.
That said:
Fermented
Wholecrop wheat at 40% DM 25% Starch harvested at brie-cheddar cheese stage
suffers a yield penalty of approx 25% vs. Alkalage at 50+% DM. Alkalage is sterilised with Urea, Liquid
Urea or above 60-65% DM with 30-40kg Dugdales Home and dry (Mix of Ammonium
Bicarbonate, Urea and Urease - the ammonia releasing enzyme) BUT to date
Alkalage suffered the penalty of a 25% reduction in feed value (25% more
disappeared out the rear of the cow as undigested grains and less digestible
straw). In practice intakes are higher
with alkalage but there has been no trial production response vs. Fermented
Wholecrop.
The main benefits of Alkalage over Fermented Whole Crop are
The above view was
appropriate before deployment in 2000 with 20 UK contractors (none in Cornwall
in 2000) of the 1999 Class whole crop processing mill - giving improved
performance over the corn cracker by a
more aggressive action. To date there
has been limited trials work. With beef
(which can digest whole grains anyway - not a good trial) and maybe a one or
two year trial with MDC sponsorship that started last summer. If trials results confirm the promise of the
mill then we have a situation where - at least for grain starch digestibility
overall diet performance may be
improved. In my experience with
corn crackered Whole crop wheat
substituting for maize - the results are disappointing. Used as a fibre compliment to Maize and
grass silage - or at grass at high yield there is a small nutritional benefit -
most benefit is financial.
Other than the
summer calving grazing situation I prefer wheat - as a crop to be harvested
conventionally - as grain and straw - and then take a view - subject to other
feeds available to include straw or not. In most cases the inclusion of straw
limits production and produces more dung.
Straw is Best reserved for the loose housed growing heifer. In a dry year when silage is expensive,
heifers ad lib fed straw plus 4 kg gluten wins hands down - all other silages
being reserved for the cows. Alkalage
is much more flexible in that it can be harvested over a much longer
window. I see no point in forage
harvesting "earage" and then having to cut and bale the straw. Grain can be combined at 30% or less
moisture, rewetted in a TMR and treated
with Urea to be fed whole to cows.
Milled Beans There may be potential for the mill to be used
effectively with Field Beans harvested as grain ensiled in the Maize Clamp thus
removing the need for combining,
crimping + acid / innoculant
treatment- expensive and not
effective in a salvage crop. Arrange
the bean harvest a day or two before the maize harvest. Beans pods grow in the top half of the plant
- so there is going to be indigestible scratch factor included.
For those
businesses without AAAid or spare acreages for strict financial and labour
reasons straw should never be fed except in emergency and it's bedding use
restricted to calving and calves pens.
For Straw read Big Bale Silage Big Bale Silage - Big Bale Silage. Time and time again the difference between a
cow having a Displaced Abomasum or Milk fever or not is down to "did they
have big bale silage?" Big Bale silage is best made from reasonably
mature no potash applied 2nd cuts wilted to 35+% dry matter. Targets are
for 35-50% DM 2% Potassium or less, Crude protein 14% or less, NDF ~
55%. Big Bales fills up the rumen - and wont blow udders.
Technical short
forward buying by the majors and strong
$ means that the spot market for all but Prairie meal continues as it has done
for many months to be disadvantageous.
Forward prices have risen. Prices for - HiPro soya give it a slight
advantage to Braz & Arg Soya.
Clients have been advised to take summer and winter positions. Prairie
meal (£360 68% Protein) is now price competitive with Sopralin / Soypass
(280-90 -50%CP) - and is a good source
of bypass methionine - but low lysine. ONLY Where clients rations are predominantly based at high yield on
this seasons previous lows for soya,
then Lysine supply is likely satisfactory and inclusion of Prairie meal or
other maize based by product is indicated.
If there is insufficient Lysine - there will be no response to
methionine. - period.
|
Transport |
Tipped |
|
Blown |
|
Miles |
15-20 |
25t |
15-20 |
|
1-10 |
6.0 |
4.8 |
7.8 |
|
11-20 |
6.6 |
5.0 |
8.7 |
|
21-30 |
7.4 |
5.4 |
9.4 |
|
51-60 |
9.6 |
6.7 |
12.5 |
|
101-110 |
13.0 |
8.1 |
16.4 |
|
151-160 |
15.9 |
10.7 |
|
|
1 |
Spot |
3-9mo |
9-15mo |
|
Hi pro Soya |
166 |
154 |
154 |
|
Braz 48% soya |
169 |
153 |
153 |
|
Arg Soya |
150 |
143 |
143 |
|
GM 1% Braz free soya |
|
164 |
164 |
|
Rapemeal |
107 |
99 |
102 |
|
Maize distillers |
112 |
99 |
99 |
|
Gluten |
87 |
81 |
82 |
|
Cerestar Gluten |
80 |
77 |
|
|
Palm Kernel |
60 |
59 |
60 |
|
32/33% Sun pellets |
97 |
96 |
100 |
|
Citrus |
78 |
76 |
75 |
|
Wheatfeed |
59 |
69 |
73 |
|
Groundnut |
142 |
140 |
142 |
|
Maize germ |
108 |
101 |
|
|
Prairie meal |
360 |
377 |
380 |
|
Molasses |
85 |
85 |
|