Cereal Killers

There are over 6000 species of thrips. Luckily, only a few of these attack arable crops.

Thrips feed off the top surface of the leaf, leaving characteristically silver markings behind.

Thrips lay their eggs INSIDE leaves, which makes killing every point of the life cycle difficult. Plus the pupae fall to the soil halfway through their lifecycle, again meaning foliar targeted insecticides can be ineffective at stopping future popula...

Brome is a weed that is very different to the other weed we have already discussed, black grass. This is because brome weeds have very large seeds, and they are closely related to all cereal crops.

This means that while they might not travel as far as black grass, they can hold more cereal diseases than black grass.

We discuss control methods such as herbicides, rotation, planting date, and densities. 

Soft brome, and sterile brome...

Peach potato aphid is a pest that doesn't cause a massive amount of damage directly by feeding on the crop.

However, this aphid is a vector for hundreds of plant diseases. Plus it can feed off plants in over 40 plant families. As such, farmers need to be able to control the peach potato aphid to ensure the crops do not get infected with a damaging virus. In this podcast we discuss the unusual biology of the peach potato aphid and m...

Powdery mildew affects every type of crop on the farm (except Christmas TREES!). However, the type of mildew that affects each species is different. That means you cannot get cross-infection between crops or weeds.

Mildew thrives in warm humid conditions, but actually doesn't like being sprayed with water!

We talk about how to prevent powdery mildew and control methods for when you have a crop that is starting to become infected.

Salt is a common food for humans, but it is deadly toxic to plants.

You should be aware of the symptoms of salinity damage on any farm as it can be an issue anywhere, not just on the coast or in arid countries!

In this episode we discuss the symptoms of salt damage, the effects it has on the plant, plants that tolerate salt (halophytes), ways to overcome or avoid salt damage, and some minor benefits of having salt in the soil.

At...

AKA White Mould. This disease affects oilseed rape, beans, and any other crop outside of cereals that you may be using as rotational crops. It will also affect cover crops.

Sclerotinia produces unusual bodies of spores called 'sclerotia' that drop the ground and release spores in the spring.

If you would like to discuss further options for control of Sclerotinia, please speak to us using the contact details on our website https://e...

Leatherjackets; the giant maggots of the crane fly! A pest in arable crops, pasture grass, and horticulture.

In this podcast we discuss the impact of this pest on crop roots and stems.

The biology of leatherjackets is interesting as they remain active in the winter, and reach a peak of damage in early spring.

For more details on leatherjackets and potential control methods, contact the Eutrema technical team by visiting; https://eu...

In this week's episode we delve into the issues around filter and nozzle blockages. We pay particular attention to the problems that can arise when mixing various biological products and how to overcome them.

Fish-based organic fertiliser

Most commonly extracted using phosphoric acid. Phosphorus often reacts with soluble calcium to form insoluble calcium phosphate. Once this forms, it isn’t going anyway, no matter how much you ri...