Technical Bulletin No. 7 7.7.2023

In the northern Mallee, reports of Etiella and Heliothis may create more activity in the coming days and weeks. For the southern Mallee, most growers are looking for more rain to protect yield potential, and late fungicide sprays have gone out on wheat.

In the Wimmera (North, Central and West) soil moisture levels are good (explained later in this bulletin) and there are isolated reports of armyworm activity that warrant some monitoring, particularly in cereal on cereal rotations.

Some action points from recent BCG events: leave the fenceline and get out into your crops to assess for potential frost or heat stress damage, adjust your header set up ready for the coming months, succession planning is an ongoing process and farming is about decision making and we can only influence the quality of our decision making by acting more consciously on the best available knowledge.

• Cereals are at stem elongation, some canola is flowering and pulses are still growing slowly.
• Net form net blotch (NFNB) and Septoria are present in barley and wheat respectively. Fungicide plans are being actioned where risk is greatest. Stripe rust has also been detected in other regions, but this is 2-3 months later than last year in commercial crops.
• Red leather leaf is present in oats and prothioconazole applications are occurring.
• Drier weather has seen the disease threat lessen a little for diseases that like cool wet conditions, but there is still a need to be vigilant.
• Preparation for grain storage is commencing with thought going into grain hygiene and silo bag needs.

• Cereals are progressing from late tillering through to GS32 (second node), with stronger canopy development following recent moisture.
• Canola ranges from cabbaging to bud elongation, with some early-sown paddocks now reaching early flowering.
• Pest activity remains on the radar; Lucerne flea is being reported widely across the Wimmera–Mallee, Red-legged Earth Mite pressure is present in parts of the North Central and Wimmera and evidence of mouse damage has been observed in several Wimmera paddocks, highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring.

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB): BCG released a special technical bulletin in January 2023, on seed quality and testing seed following the wet spring of 2022. Fusarium Head Blight (Fusarium pseudograminearum) (FHB) was an issue for some due the conditions during flowering and grain fill however don’t underestimate the impact stripe rust which may have been a major contributor to poor grain quality.