Pea Growers beware – early forecasts point to a high to medium risk of Blackspot in seedling field pea crops sown in early to mid-May across most of South Australia in 2022.

When new crops are emerging and establishing, spores released with rainfall in late autumn and winter will lead to a high risk of Blackspot showing up in crops.

Be mindful that if we receive numerous rainfall events, it will increase disease severity. However, if dry conditions persist and rainfall events are few, then minimal disease should eventuate – irrespective of spore numbers.

If you can, and if it’s agronomically practical, delay sowing field peas so that crop emergence does not coincide with the peak release of blackspot spores. Try to time crop emergence until after the majority of blackspot spores (about 60%) have been released. If that is not practical, ensure you have a robust fungicide plan in place.

The main message is be prepared for a high risk of Blackspot establishing in your pea crops. And remember, there are several actions you can do that can help reduce the risk:
– Plant peas well away from 2021 pea stubbles – aim for up to 500m.
– Where possible, delay sowing 2-3 weeks after opening rains in medium to high rainfall districts where it will unlikely compromise yield. Airborne spores will have reduced over this window.
– Use appropriate seed dressings.
– Apply fungicide strategies to crops with a yield potential of over 1.5t/ha.

Check out the dates below as of 2nd May for our areas:

You can find more sowing dates and locations here:

Give one of our agronomists a call for more information.