Dear colleagues,

The current winter is probably not to anyone's liking, as the moisture supply has been negligible, crops have not germinated fully, fungal diseases are rampant on autumn crops as of now, and there will most likely be a calamity of many economically important pests in the spring.

For those of you who have catch crops in the field, of course the most important question is what do we do if they do not frost fully. This is nothing new to the countries of Western Europe, but it is the first year in this country with such a case,

because in 2016 and 2017 everything froze almost completely. Now we should not be frightened, but take the necessary measures according to the situation.

The main measure for deciduous intermixtures and crops - rolling during frost - so the cells, in which there is frozen water, burst and a rapid rotting process begins. However, if your mixtures are dominated by winter cereals, rolling is not an option as they will root even better.

If we have missed the moment and there are no frosty days ahead, and the forecast is for a further rise in temperatures from mid-February - we recommend that fields that are visibly green and have a lot of wheat component are treated with glyphosate . Note that glyphosate will not destroy large rootlets in the soil, so we should not allow them to form.

Where there are large root crops due to reduced sowing rates of turnips pre-sowing treatments will over-harvest them , and if there is spring sprouting or seedlings not germinating due to drought in autumn - herbicides in maize or process sunflower will deal with them. However, don't get carried away beating the ground with over-treatments to kill plant debris - above ground mass after frost or total herbicide is not a problem. Where there are large root crops there will be more secondary weeding, but compared to the effect of the catch crop it is a bit of a headache and the results in Europe unequivocally point to an overwhelmingly positive effect.

With no-till or minimal-till technologies, the seed is direct entry, the drills are heavy and will distribute the seed despite the mass if any. We also work with glyphosate and/or herbicides for the respective crop if necessary. As another example from European practice I can give the use of Zencor on catch crops before potatoes and legumes, also preparations based on Pyraflufen. Sulfonylcontaining I recommend to leave for vegetative application in maize and process sunflower. Imazamox (Pulsar, etc.) of course also vegetatively in the main crop.

Wishing you success with your new challenges

Evelina Marinova
February 06, 2018