Spring Barley – disease control

Drilling has really leapt on in the dry weather and some areas are all but finished.  Hopefully, there is enough residual moisture in soils to get germination and brairding quickly.  In contrast to the winter crop where the responsive fungicide timing is T1, in spring crops the balance is less weighted to that early spray and with more resistant varieties now in play there is scope to trim T1 inputs which in the spring crop are aimed at late tillering to GS30.

SRUC trials over three seasons have shown that only for weaker varieties at sites where wet weather follows the T1 timing is there any additional yield response to a T1 spray over and above a T2 spray.  That’s easy to risk in a trial situation, and obviously the weather post T1 is unpredictable but it does point to the potential of reducing T1 inputs in low-risk scenarios.