Emerging crops
Continue to check all your crops for signs of pest damage. Slugs have remained very active but they are not in all fields. Pellets seem to have worked well but follow-up applications were needed at times. Much of the severe damage was caused by juvenile slugs. These are ferocious feeders and are not easy to see in daylight.
If you think you have a problem but you can’t see the slugs, walk into fields at nighttime using a torch to see them up on the leaves. Just be sure you are dealing with slugs before you treat as slug pellets will not stop rabbits, hares or deer from grazing.
While forward crops will appear more resilient to slug damage, they can still be hit, so watch for any decrease in vegetative cover. All pests can still cause problems regardless of planting date. Slugs, snails, mice and rats can raid from the hedges also.
EFA
While it has not yet been announced, it seems that protein crops will not be allowed as Environmental Focus Area (EFA) this coming season, given that pesticides cannot be used on EFA. So if you needed beans to provide your EFA in the past, you must now consider how to provide the balance of your 5% EFA.
ITLUS Conference
This takes place on 7 December in Athy and looks at the increasing challenges associated with the loss of pesticide inputs.
Tillage management: heavy rain should end any further planting plans