From the field

“Most areas have finished seeding but a few paddocks are still to be sown and will struggle as the day temperatures have declined making crop growth slow.

“A few diseases are staring to pop up such as powdery mildew and Septoria in wheat. In earlier sown wheat, considering the rainfall we have had, it comes as no surprise with higher inoculum carryover from last year's crop residue.

“Early sown canola is also expressing early blackleg infections and will put pressure on the varieties which don't have a blackleg seed treatment such as Saltro or Ilevo.

“Fungicides will be in high demand again if these cropping conditions continue and every spray day will need to be utilised this year.

“Other pests such as slugs and snails have been busy eating early emerging crops and baiting has been required, reminding us to try and get the timing right to control them earlier and reduce egg laying.

“Most of the pre-emergent herbicides have worked well this year with good control of the target weeds, and we will wait to see what later germinating weeds will get through.

“The main challenges growers will have is getting a window to spray and will need to keep the rates up as weeds will be larger than preferred.” - Lyndon May, Elders Technical Services Manager, South Australia.

Victoria

“All the hype around El Nino has quickly dissipated following strong, widespread rainfall totals for June. Whilst we remain cautious, we are now looking at a decent season given the amount of moisture in the profile.

“Post-emergent sprays are well underway, however finding good spray days has been challenging with the wind, wet weather, and paddock trafficability creating issues. It can be a logistical nightmare this time of year with farmers simultaneously trying to complete stock work, spreading, rolling and carting grain during shorter days with unfavourable weather.

“Mice were very active around Swan Hill during late May/early June however following rapid baiting and cold weather activity, has slowed down. In terms of early disease, net blotch is showing up in barley, stripe rust and powdery mildew in wheat, as well as early reports of ascochyta and sclerotinia white mould in lentils.” - Pat Conlan, Elders Agronomist, Swan Hill.

New South Wales

“The seasonal outlook varies across the state with the Southern NSW region around Young, Cowra and Goulburn having had good rainfall with full soil moisture profiles.

“Central NSW remains mixed, with good soil moisture at depth which would benefit cropping around Trangie and Dubbo if we had some more rain to connect the profile.

“Growers are looking for more rain in the north-west of the state with crops hanging in there on only 2-5ml rainfall events.

“Red legged earth mites and blue oat mites are starting to impact pasture crops around Young and Cowra. While slugs have slowed down across the state with growers continuing to monitor.”

- Lauren Marchant, Elders State Rural Products Manager, New South Wales.

To view state level performance and to subscribe to future editions, vist: elders.com.au/for-farmers/market-insights/rural-property-update