Arable
Wanted: Call for help to prevent ‘new blackgrass’
• Threat to no-till winter cereal crops • Already having an economic impact • Farmers to send in seed collections
E
astern region farmers are being asked to help combat the spread of rat’s tail fescue – a grass weed already posing problems in Denmark, France, Spain and Switzerland. Scientists say the weed – which causes significant economic damage – is starting to take hold in England and Wales. It is predominantly a threat in no-till winter cereals, where it rap- idly forms dense carpets and competes with the crop. In Australia, where rat’s tail fescue has been present in fields for more than 50 years, farmers have incurred hefty losses through crop yield reduction and contamination of forage and wool. Research leader Lucie Büchi, of
Greenwich University, said rat’s tail fescue was a relatively new grass weed in crops but of increasing concern. In the UK, it is present in natural habi- tats, but its distribution in arable fields is yet unknown. “We are launching a UK-wide sur-
vey to better understand the current knowledge and distribution of this spe- cies in the UK, and its association with cropping practices. It’s really impor- tant we get on top of this before it be- comes another blackgrass.” As part of the survey, farmers will be asked to answer questions about their location, soil type and general agronomy. The aim is to identify any correlation between these factors, and the distribution or abundance of rats tail fescue.
Seed samples Dr Büchi – and colleages Laura Cook and Richard Hull from Rothamsted Research – are inviting farmers and agronomists to send them rat’s tail fes- cue seeds so they can start to study the weed in preparation for its likely spread across the UK. Mr Hill said: “We would like farm- ers that have rat’s tail fescue on their land to send us a mature seed sample
Rats tail fescue can devastate cereal crops, say scientists
Weed’s distribution in arable fields is yet unknown
“ L
arger seeds perform better when it comes to winter wheat and spring barley, suggests an independent tri- al carried out by the National Association of Agricultural Contractors.
Bigger seeds resulted in higher emer- gence rates, increased initial vigour, longer initial root and shoot lengths, higher root and shoot mass, greater initial tillering and greater initial leaf number.
Carried out by SGS in greenhouse con-
ditions in early 2021, the results highlight- ed that seed size is a vital factor in poten- tial yield. This was true whether using farm
8 ANGLIA FARMER • JULY 2021
saved or certified seed, said NAAC seed chair- man Rob White.
Better performance “Farmers are increasingly questioning the need to have farm saved seed treated and cleaned. However, these results clearly high- light the importance of only filling the drill with viable seed. Larger seed sizes were prov- en to have higher germination, higher vigour and improved emergence compared to small seed sizes of the same lot.” Based on the results in this trial, crops drilled with smaller seed – or an uncleaned
and we can provide them with instruc- tions for obtaining as good a seed sam- ple as possible. “We plan to run a series of experi- ments looking at how rats tail fescue may adapt to future climates and to study the differences in the life cycle of wild and natural populations com- pared to seed collected from farmers’ fields.” To aid with identification of the
plant, a freely available six-page in- formation leaflet and a shorter three- page identification guide have been produced by the team, which is avail- able from Rothamsted.
The anonymous survey is open un-
til 31 August. To take part, visit www.
greenwich.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/vul- pia-survey-uk.
Bigger seeds mean better results suggests trial
seed batch – will result in a lower yield and perhaps lower quality of harvested grain than a crop drilled from a larger or cleaned seed batch. The study suggests that small seeds in the drill are effectively taking up space that could be occupied by a larger, more produc- tive seeds, added Mr White.
“It is vital that farmers look hard at their farm-saving economics. While costs can be cut by barn dipping, this may be a very short-sighted gain. Seed that is cleaned and of larger size selection will put the crop at a competitive advantage.”
Photo: Agroscope, Switzerland
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