Foliar feeding late-drilled spring cereal crops will be key this season to help plants establish in deceptively cold and wet soils. Many fields were sown only in the past two weeks, says Agrovista technical manager Chris Martin.
“Although on the surface seed-beds look fine, a couple of inches down they are puddled and wet and have poor soil structure.
“Seed-beds have affectively capped this wet, deeper layer, so it is not going to dry out in a hurry.
“That is a pretty harsh environment for young roots. Crops are at risk of significant stress during the rapid growth likely to be associated with this warmer spell of weather. I predict we’ll see May yellows very soon.”
Foliar nutrition is an “absolute necessity” if these crops are to perform, he adds.
“Roots are going to be stunted and slow growing and won’t be able to deliver sufficient nutrients from the soil. We will need to feed the leaves rather than the roots to help these young plants through.
“How long we have to do so depends on the weather – if we get reasonable amounts of rain and warmth, that will help. If it turns dry, these crops are going to struggle. We can’t risk any more delays.” Judging by test results from winter wheat crops this season, sulphur, magnesium, manganese and potassium are likely to be short. But Mr Martin advises a combination of tissue and soil analyses to pinpoint the crop’s needs.
“There is no substitute for testing – we need to be prescriptive,” he explains. He will also advise applying Terra-Sorb with foliar nutrients on any stressed crop at 1.5-2 litres/ha from the three-leaf stage.
“On spring barley crops hit badly by manganese deficiency, it’s earned the nickname of Lazarus as it really does revive crops that look to be almost dead.”
Terra-Sorb is made up of 18 alpha amino acids. Crops can synthesise all of them, but they have a high energy cost, Mr Martin explains.
“It is essentially a stress beater. Applying Terra-Sorb at times of high energy demand, or when crops can least afford expending that energy, can give the crop the uplift it needs and can make an unbelievable difference to crop appearance in a short time.”
Sugar beet
Agrovista agronomists are advising sugar beet growers to use Terra-Sorb with each post-emergence herbicide spray up to the six-leaf stage to give crops a lift, says Mr Martin. “There have been some incredible results in trials almost too good to be true.
“In CMI sugar beet trials in 2014 Terra-Sorb delivered yield responses up to an unbelievable 41t/ha, and last year in similar trials delivered14t/ha.”
He recommends applying it at 1.5 litre/ha on each post emergence application, or, where necessary, at 3 litres/ha in one hit.