Spotted wing drosophila solutions from Russell IPM

SWD Dry Lure

MaxDro, Suzukii Trap

The SWD Dry Lure and MaxDro (liquid lure) are highly attractive lures for monitoring of SWD. SWD Dry Lure is a versatile attractant that can be paired with the Red Impact Trap or hung inside the Suzukii Trap. MaxDro is a liquid attractant for the mass monitoring of SWD. It can be paired with the Suzukii trap and SWD Dry Lure to maximise trap catch.

ProBandz is an effective food bait adjuvant which is mixed with insecticides to enhance the control of fruit flies such as SWD. It increases the uptake of insecticide which leads to a faster kill of the target pest with a much reduced insecticide rate. It can be used with all authorised plant protection products and is applied to plants as a band treatment.

50% reduction in active ingredient costs (estimate)

Red Impact Board with SWD Dry Lure

Red Impact Board is a ready-to use, quick and effective monitoring tool for SWD when paired with the SWD Dry Lure. It comes with UV- light stable, hight-tack adhesive for easy capture of SWD.

the country scab is one of the primary diseases of concern. Mildew can come in certain weather conditions and canker in some varieties. Fire blight is seen intermittently.

Thatchers has worked with Agrii for at least 18 years, going back before Chris and agronomist Matt Greep’s time.

There’s a big emphasis on letting bene cial insects “ ght it out” with pests where possible. “The main thing we do, and a lot of people do, is avoiding broad spectrum insecticides – the loss of products is easy to fall back on with some of these but we’re trying to hold our own on that and maintain those natural background populations,” Chris said.

As well as avoiding products that a ect those bene cial populations, they try to encourage habitats – whether it’s in non-cropped areas around the orchards, or more recently, trying mixed species sward mixes between the trees in their young orchards over the past couple of years.

Biodiversity is key for the farm, so natural methods of crop protection are a priority and ag-chems are only used when strictly necessary. When conversations are had about what products work well for certain pests, Matt and Chris will not only consider whether the product hurts the pest, but also whether it hurts the bene cials. Matt explained: “We need to factor that into the equation as well, and that’s really integral for the IPM structure of the farm to work successfully. It’s a key part of the decision making – what is the product’s bene cial pro le like, and do we have any data to back that up? If we don’t, where are we going to nd it?”

Crop protection

The farm is very good at putting measures in place to minimise the use of ag-chems, Matt said – for example thinking about how to prune as aphids like to overwinter in the crevices around the pruning cuts.

“There are some really good cultural controls that Thatchers have put in place to try to minimise the risks,” Matt said. “Chris has also tried some alternative products with varying degrees of success, including silicone-based nutrient Sion and magnesium sulphate for breaking down the woolliness on the pest.”

The farm also uses more biostimulants each year. “These are trying to kickstart the immune system in the trees and I think there’s quite a bit of potential there in terms of what can be available. Quantifying it can be tricky but it’s something that we’re keen to pursue,” Chris said.

Of course, there are occasions when ag-chems are required to protect the crop and insecticides with a physical mode of action have been quite successful, he added.

Matt also praised Chris and the team on their successful use of the Batavia product, as it’s something the industry has struggled with. “Batavia is a spirotetramet, which is a very good ingredient for sucking pests. But it’s a very technical product – it must go on at the right time, and it can’t be tank mixed, so it’s a single pass on its own. If the tissue is too warm, the stomata close up and it won’t go in. It’s a systemic product only so there’s no contact activity.

“As an agronomist, when I advise that product a lot of growers try and take short cuts and then it doesn’t work, but the Thatchers team are very good at thinking about how they can get the best out of the products. So although we’ve seen certain areas of the farm that probably haven’t had the best results from the product – perhaps because the pest pressure was just too high for it to manage – in other areas we’ve certainly seen it work well. And I put that down to the guys being very good at what they do when it comes to application and knowing how to use these products.”

Weather considerations

Although the farm has a couple of low-lying areas and some early owering varieties, frost is not usually much of a problem. The only mitigation strategy is growing a range of varieties in di erent areas. The farm is quite protected and traditionally a lot of its branches are late

The farm acquired a 50-acre block of land which will be in herbal ley with grazing sheep for 3-4 years before any apples are planted – as it was previously arable land

The farm works with local beekeepers who keep hives in the orchards all year round, but encouraging solitary bees and bumblebees is also important owering so they tend to miss any frost events. There are a couple of products available with limited trial data on frost protection, but the margins are very ne, providing 0.5–1ºC protection, Matt said. Although farms often fear frost events, the greater real-world threat is protracted cold springs that can lead to poor owering and pollinating conditions.

“That’s where we’ve got armoury that could mitigate against that and the biostimulant range would certainly help. ProAct is a harpin protein that helps the plant defend itself by sending signals into the plant, helping calcium bind to the internal parts of the cell tissues. By having a higher concentration of calcium, it takes colder temperatures for cell decay to occur and it promotes normal activity – whereas plants that are under stress tend to shut down normal activity and go into protection mode.”

Being based in Somerset, they often experience long periods of wet weather in winter, which along with the heavy land can lead to root death – so rootstocks must be tolerant of wet feet.

At the other end of the spectrum, the farm fared well during the very hot summer of 2022 and its growers were not overly a ected either, Chris said. Having planted the trees early and got them into good condition before the high temperatures hit, they didn’t need to water them –although they have done in previous years. In fact, they processed their largest ever crop. If anything, higher rates of sunshine resulted in higher sugars which is a positive from a cider making point of view, Chris added. Nevertheless, rising temperatures are something they must keep an eye on. “At what point can we justify investing in irrigation? If we get more summers where we think it’s justi able maybe our thinking will change.”

Ciders of the future

Looking to the future of the cider apple industry, Chris said there is potential for further automation – “whether it be during the harvesting process or even pruning – the majority of which is still done manually”. He added: “It is encouraging to see the developments in other areas of agriculture and horticulture that our industry can look to.”

For Thatchers, the aim is to keep doing what they’re doing – “making the best cider around, innovating and keeping our consumers excited about new avours and styles.”

As part of this the farm is running more tree trials than anyone else in the industry, according to Chris – featuring around 100 varieties making up 10% of the total acreage. Key to this is nding varieties that are good for the market, but also grow well in the farm’s system.

“Some things that are perfect for the market are not that easy to grow so there’s a trade-o . Some varieties don’t like growing in our system and we can’t get the yield high enough despite making a very good cider. Equally I’ve got varieties which are fantastic cropping, easy to manage, low pest and disease pressure and just a joy, but if they don’t make good cider there’s no point growing them. Certain varieties tick both boxes and that’s what we’re always looking for.”

Thatchers’ trials include lots of eating varieties with low tannin content, which the cider market is increasingly moving towards as it makes for a lighter, more refreshing cider. This could be the way to encourage new drinkers into the market, Chris said. The trials are helping to identify the best eating varieties for cider making.

Many traditional or vintage varieties were also brought into the trials programme a few years ago. “Lots of those varieties have a really good reputation but have not been grown in a modern way so we’re seeing how they perform in those systems. We’ve also brought over a few French varieties to see how they do in Somerset. There’s lots of interesting things going on.

“It’s a constantly moving market so we’re always looking at trends,” Chris added.

As generation Z increasingly moves towards no alcohol or low alcohol, Thatchers Zero took two years to get right but after lots of trials Chris said they have a good strong product that is gaining good traction with consumers. One of the challenges is persuading the consumer that it’s not just a sparkling apple juice and the fermentation process requires the same level of care as with any alcoholic cider – and therefore it commands a similar price. “But we’re getting there, and Thatchers Zero is now the number one low/no apple cider in the country,” Chris added.

With fruit ciders being a big part of the market in recent years, Thatchers has launched a couple of its own and these will always be part of the cider industry going forward, Chris reckons. “The biggest cider launch we’ve done was last year and that was called Blood Orange. That was actually o the back of noticing trends in the spirits market and blood orange avours seemed to be really taking o there. It’s a case of looking at the market and understanding what the market is ready for. We spend a lot of time and e ort thinking about the next arena we need to be playing in.”

Incorporating avours such as blood orange allows for more exibility in an industry with a very long production cycle, he added. “We’ve got a very fast-moving industry at one end of the supply chain and a very slow one at the other. We have to take a very long-term view when it comes to growing apples and growing a variety mix which can be adaptable to changing trends.”

Watch the Tramlines podcast with Thatchers and Agrii at http://bit.ly/Agriithatchers