And it is especially so this year with attractive commodity prices on offer.
 

The flag leaf of wheat is responsible for around 45 per cent of a wheat crop’s yield and with the flag leaf fully emerged and exposed to disease infection, it is critical to protect it by applying an effective fungicide. So what is the disease situation in 2018?
 

This spring, Bayer again has fungicide trials situated throughout New Zealand, from Manawatu to Southland, and these are complemented by a large number of disease watch sites.
 

These are showing that disease pressure is variable but increasing rapidly.
 

On the lower North Island, disease pressure from both speckled leaf blotch and leaf rust has been extreme from early spring and this shows no sign of reducing.
 

In Canterbury, after a slow start, disease pressure is rapidly increasing and here it is important not to get caught out.
 

Speckled leaf blotch is very widespread and from now on it will develop very rapidly. This is exactly what has happened in Bayer trials for the past two years.
 

Now, the threat from stripe rust is here. While in the process of writing this article, we have just found that stripe rust has exploded in susceptible varieties in South Canterbury.
 

On top of that, leaf rust is also mixed in with the stripe rust.
 

In 2017, when disease pressure was similar to this year, Bayer trials demonstrated the profit generated by using a robust fungicide programme.
 

Applying Aviator Xpro at GS39 followed by Prosaro + strobulurin fungicide at GS65 delivered very high profits, ranging from approximately $600 per ha from the control of speckled leaf blotch to over $1300 per ha from the control of leaf rust or stripe rust.
 

Why choose Aviator Xpro and Prosaro?
 

Both fungicides control a very wide range of diseases, have been extensively tested under NZ conditions in numerous trials, are fully supported by the Bayer field team and both apply more than one fungicide which helps in the fight against disease resistance developing.

But achieving excellent disease control is also about timing.
 

It isn’t always easy but do your best to ensure that your customers’ GS39 (T2) fungicide is timed to coincide both with full flag leaf emergence and it is applied no more than 28 days after their GS32 (T1) fungicide.
 

Then, make sure they apply their GS65 (T3) fungicide no more than 25 days after their T2 fungicide.
 

Applying Aviator Xpro and Prosaro and paying attention to fungicide timing will pay handsomely this season.