People around the country aren't just getting great results from using Redigo Deter seed treatments, they're increasingly telling us about them. We've been asking farmers, and their advisors, how they have benefited from Redigo Deter over the last couple of seasons. You'll see a few of these below.

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"For us it's a management tool. Using Redigo Deter means less worrying about slug hollowing pre-emergence. It also cuts out an extra pass - BYDV is covered until the Atlantis goes on in late autumn."

Tamara Hall, Beverley, E. Yorkshire

"Redigo Deter helps us manage establishing wheat crops. We don't have to rush back in with the quad bike straight after drilling, or with the sprayer as soon as tramlines are visible. It buys time"

Jon Parker, Alcester, Warwickshire

"It boosts establishment and fits our pre-em approach to grass-weed control. Wheat drilled after maize gets away without a BYDV spray; where wheat follows grass we've had no frit fly problems since using Redigo Deter"

Joe Foot, Dorchester, Dorset

"We tried it on a field last year and were very impressed. Grain hollowing was negligible and we avoided using metaldehyde pellets. This year we'll drill all wheat after OSR with Redigo Deter protection."

James Pimblett, Henham, Essex

"Redigo Deter fits well with new approaches to autumn grass-weed control. It controls BYDV-spreading aphids for 8 to 10 weeks from drilling; you won't have to go back with a separate BYDV spray after pre-em herbicide spraying."

Gordon Stewart, UAP seeds manager, Scotland

"Last autumn we tried a field with Redigo Deter. We only had to follow up with one slug pellet application, whereas other fields needed three or four. It's our best-looking crop this year."

Rob McDonald, Duns, Berwickshire

"We've used more Redigo Deter this season than we did in 2006, when we had excellent conditions for establishment. Crops got off to a flying start and didn't look back. In fact, we won the local ploughing society's annual 'Best field of wheat' competition with a crop that had been treated with Redigo Deter. We grow oats, which can mean we suffer from frit fly problems in the following wheat, but we found that there was no need for a specific spray as there had been in the previous two or three years. You can carry on drilling without worrying about spraying at such a busy time - it's all about peace of mind, really".

Daniel James, Herefordshire

"Since we started using Redigo Deter three years ago wheat crops have established much more evenly. It's stopped grain hollowing; we don't need to put pellets on with seed and have reduced our seed rate."

John Youngs, Fyfield, Hampshire

"Our agronomist advised using Redigo Deter to avoid BYDV spraying and help against slugs. It does and fits our black-grass programme, so we now drill all our winter cereals with it as standard."

Robin Cousland, Sleaford, Lincolnshire

"With very heavy soils and oilseed rape in the rotation, our number one priority in most autumns is to limit the damage caused by slugs. Before we started using Redigo Deter two years ago, we could spend up to £50/ha on pellets, applying them pre-ploughing, then post-sowing, following up with at least two further passes. In our first wheats - and despite a very wet autumn last year - this figure came down to £35/ha, with fewer passes. Redigo Deter has become very much a part of our slug control armoury and is environmentally preferable to pellets."

David Fuller-Shapcott, Sweethope, near Kelso

"We have a big problem with Wessex flea beetle around here, which were found initially in grass seed before moving into September-sown cereals. However, since we started drilling Redigo Deter-treated seed, the pest has kept away from all 800 hectares of our winter crops - aphids, too. In fact, I wouldn't consider drilling before mid-October without using Redigo Deter."

Nick Rowsell, farmer, Hampshire

"The sheer scale of slug populations last autumn, together with the high risk of aphid attack, led me to advise growers not to gamble on drilling untreated seed. We've used Redigo Deter-treated seed quite widely over the past couple of seasons - particularly in early-drilled wheat following oilseed rape - and have found no evidence of grain hollowing by slugs. Higher wheat prices are encouraging growers to invest in something that is likely to help produce good, even establishment, and if we can reduce the use of pellets at the same time, then that must be a good thing."

David Cairns, agronomist, Northumberland/Borders

"My customers are using a lot of Redigo Deter now, because they want to know that they've got BYDV covered in the early part of the season. In addition, the increase in the use of pre-em herbicides means they can save a pass. Redigo Deter's activity on gout fly, which can be a significant problem in this part of the country, is an extra bonus, protecting the crop for eight weeks before there's need to consider a follow-up insecticide. Redigo Deter has become an integral part of autumn establishment strategy."

Robert Annan, agronomist, Thames Valley

BYDV

Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) causes stunting, discolouration and sometimes death of cereal plants and many grasses in Britain. Reductions in yield and grain quality can be enormous - yield losses may reach as high as 90% in crops infected early (GS 10-12). BYDV is introduced into early-emerging autumn cereals by infected vector aphids migrating from nearby infected grasses or volunteer cereals. The two most important UK autumn vectors of BYDV are the bird-cherry aphid and the grain aphid.

Infection and secondary spread can continue in mild weather from autumn right through to early winter and, in severe cases, the random foci merge into much larger areas.

These changes in leaf colour, together with associated alterations in the content of plant sap, attract further aphid vectors, compounding the BYDV problem.

'A few hours is all it takes'

Aphids alight on cereal plants in late summer/early autumn and, if carrying BYDV, can cause primary infections when feeding within a matter of hours. Aphid movement to neighbouring plants and the production of wingless young result in the much more damaging secondary spread of BYDV. As a consequence, saucer-shaped depressions, or foci, of discoloured and stunted plants appear from mid-winter onwards.

Cereals can also be infected via the 'green bridge' where wingless aphids 'walk in' from green debris (cereal volunteers or grasses) onto emerging cereals. This occurs most commonly in the West and South West of Britain and is associated with the bird-cherry aphid. Ploughing (especially of grassland) followed too closely by drilling will not break the 'green bridge' as aphids can survive on green (non-desiccated plant material) buried in the soil for several weeks, before making their way to the surface to infect the new crop.

BYDV risk

Coastal areas of the South, South East and South West are habitually at high risk to BYDV, but in a mild autumn/early winter, almost any part of the UK cereals area can suffer damaging BYDV infections.

As disease development is heavily weather-dependent and influenced by the amount of virus carried by invading aphids, it is very difficult to predict likely BYDV infection levels. This helps to explain why roughly 60% of the UK winter cereals area has been routinely treated with an aphicide in autumn. Crops emerging before the end of September are particularly at risk from BYDV, but aphid invasions and the consequent primary spread of BYDV can continue throughout a mild autumn/early winter. The very damaging secondary spread of BYDV generally occurs between late October and January, but in mild weather can continue into early spring.

Effect on yield

BYDV-infected cereals produce lower yields and poor-quality, shrivelled grain; the earlier infection occurs, the greater the effect. In winter barley, severe infection can reduce yield by 70-80% and in winter wheat by 25-30%.

How to use Deter-treated seed

NB: With earlier drillings, in seasons and/or localities where aphid fly-in extends beyond the first week of November, an additional spray is likely to be required.

Reduced seed rates for winter cereals

The recent trend towards earlier drilling of reduced seed rates for winter cereals (especially wheat) can have a marked impact on the performance of Redigo Deter seed treatments.

Earlier drilling increases the exposure to intense aphid fly-ins during early autumn, with a greater attendant risk of BYDV infection.

Using lower than conventional seed rates, especially with seed of high thousand grain weight, results in fewer established plants per square metre. These more widely spaced plants grow and tiller more vigorously than conventional drillings, which leads to a faster dilution of clothianidin within the plants, reducing the period of protection afforded by Redigo Deter against BYDV. In addition, as crop populations decrease, individual plants suffer higher aphid levels, and BYDV infection pressure increases.

Nevertheless, in comparison to a pyrethroid spray, Redigo Deter products give superior aphid control on both 100 and 150kg/ha plots .

Here are the main documents relating to Redigo Deter for you to download. You can also find labels, MSDS, tank-mixes and other key documents for all our products here