Key Points
- While there was little other disease, a rapid build-up of Ramularia leaf and awn spot occurred, which rapidly reduced GLA. The disease only affected up to 8% of leaf area
- Ramularia was well controlled by fungicides containing strobilurins, especially with a double application. Opus appeared to control the disease slightly better than Tilt
- Double applications of a strobilurin plus either Opus or Tilt gave the highest yields. Single applications of strobilurins, alone or in mixtures, gave the least effective disease control
- The addition of a carbendazim to Opus reduced the level of Ramularia, but had no effect on yield
- The yield of the plots in the trial area was severely affected by two hailstorms
- At $200/t, no treatments in this trial were economic. At $300/t, only low rates of strobilurin/triazole tank-mixes returned a positive margin over chemical cost