Crop Health
Pests in Winter cereals, May 2019
The warm spell in mid-April did lead to some flying cereal aphids being caught in Scottish suction traps, so it’s worth checking for aphids on leaves on warm sunny days,…
Read More >
Pests in soft fruits, April 2019
Raspberry growers should continue to check at night for double-dart moth caterpillars and clay-coloured weevils. Double-dart moth caterpillars are 2-2.5 cm in length, brown in colour with a distinctive V-shaped…
Read More >
Pests in carrots & parsnips, April 2019
Carrot flies are forecast to emerge and fly into carrot crops in late April, with egg laying beginning from early May. Crops that were sown with seed treated with Force…
Read More >Weeds in Spring crops, April 2019
Spring barley If annual meadow-grass is a potential problem in establishing spring barley, then a residual herbicide is the best option for effective control. This is particularly relevant to reduced…
Read More >
Disease in Winter oats, April 2019
We are not seeing much in the way of mildew coming through in reports as yet and it is one of the major targets of fungicides used in winter oats.…
Read More >
Aphids in Winter cereals, April 2019
Look for aphids on leaves on warm sunny days, and consider an aphicide if aphid colonies can be found on 50% of plants. Aphids are probably not going to start…
Read More >
Maintaining Scotland’s high health status for potatoes
New pest and disease threats and pesticide losses through legislation and resistance development are cross cutting issues across all our crops at the moment and potatoes are no exception. Our…
Read More >
Pests in oilseed rape, April 2019
With many crops already at green-yellow bud, there is a risk from pollen beetle damage to the buds, giving rise to blind-stalks with no flowers or pods forming on them.…
Read More >
Diseases in oilseed rape, April 2019
Fungicide sprays targeting light leaf spot will be imminent when conditions dry up and allow field operations again – many crops are now extending away and at green bud stages.…
Read More >
Pests in Spring barley, April 2019
Crops sown after grass will be at risk from leatherjackets. With the loss of chlorpyrifos, crops sown after grass have limited options should leatherjackets start to cause damage to emerging…
Read More >