Push to early sowing could see more crop viruses because of increased aphid numbers

Gregor Heard
November 14 2020 - 6:00am
Trial work has found that early sowing can have beneficial impacts on yields but can also lead to an increase in virus-carrying aphids.
Trial work has found that early sowing can have beneficial impacts on yields but can also lead to an increase in virus-carrying aphids.

NICK Poole, managing director of Field Applied Research (FAR) Australia has warned the current trend of sowing earlier may lead to higher virus loads in-crop that will need to be managed.

Gregor Heard

Gregor Heard

National Grains Industry Reporter

Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.

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