Early post emergent crop and pasture checks

It has been an interesting start to the season, with patchy rainfall and a spread of sowing and germination times.  Early post emergent is an important time for checking crops and pastures especially for weeds and insects as some significant problems can present that need early attention.

Hard to kill broadleaf weeds such as Wild Radish and Bifora need to be taken out when small for best results.  Early identification of paddocks requiring attention means the ideal weed stage for herbicide application is less likely to be missed, which would result in reduced herbicide efficacy allowing more plants to survive and set seed.

Areas that have received marginal moisture at planting may see varied results with their pre-emergent herbicides as they all work differently under different moisture situations.  Monitoring crops in the weeks during and after emergence means you can see surviving grass weeds coming up and have time to respond before they become large plants with few effective options.

With early rain in some areas pest insects may be present and even in areas which have had drier sowings it is important to keep an eye on them.  Correct identification is necessary to ensure the most effective options are used at the correct rate.  Two common insects that can be more challenging to identify the correct species are Mites and Aphids.  Correct identification is especially important for Balaustium Mite and Green Peach Aphid, which are more difficult to control.

The post seeding period can be a chance to catch up on jobs that have been put off during what is a busy period but don’t forget to keep checking crops and pastures as problems that are identified early have a much bigger success rate, which in the end helps productivity and profitability.

The smart agro