Technical Bulletin – 31 May 2016

2022 has been the season that keeps on giving, even though we are now in 2023. Wheat harvest has presented challenges with grain quality for some, and it was thought timely to talk a bit about what is going on, and while not a lot can be done in terms of this harvest, there are some considerations leading into sowing of next seasons crops and learnings to take from what has happened this year. Steven Simpfendorfer of NSW DPI has been kind enough to share some insights on fusarium head blight (FHB) and white grain disorder (WGD) via a communication piece that was distributed to northern NSW and QLD networks.

• Recent rainfall has kept growers busy applying nitrogen, fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.
• Low levels of stripe rust have been detected in the Mallee. Low levels of scald and spot form of net blotch in barley in the Wimmera and low levels of Septoria in wheat in the Wimmera and Mallee.
• In the Mallee, the window for nitrogen applications to boost yield is closing as cereal crops move into ear emergence. In the Wimmera, cereals range from late tillering through to stem elongation and flag leaf emergence, while canola is at early flowering in many districts.
• Low levels of insect activity are also being reported, including locusts in the Mallee, lucerne flea and redlegged earth mite (RLEM) in the Wimmera, cowpea aphids and blue green aphids in vetch, and lucerne leaf roller, RLEM and cowpea aphids in the North Central region.