TIMERITE

CALCULATE YOUR BEST SPRAY DATE FOR REDLEGGED EARTH MITE

TIMERITE® predicts your Best spray date (and ideal spray window) in spring to control redlegged earth mites on your property.

TIMERITE® was developed and funded by AWI and CSIRO. Updates and improvements were made by Cesar Australia and CSIRO, with funding from AWI, GRDC, MLA and Cesar Australia.

The redlegged earth mite (RLEM) is an introduced pasture and crop pest affecting southern Australia. RLEM are estimated to infest over 20 million hectares of agricultural land, causing over $200 million damage by way of failed plant establishment and reduced productivity in pastures and over $44 million damage in grains crops annually.

The first step to managing RLEM is being able to distinguish it form similar mite pests. The next step is to monitor regularly, particularly in winter and early spring when immature and adult mites are actively feeding. Once identified, it is important to understand the risk level for RLEM damage the following autumn (e.g., RLEM numbers, pasture or crop susceptibility) before deciding to spray.

Spraying according to your spring TIMERITE® Best spray date will help minimise the damage to your pastures and crops the following autumn. Your TIMERITE® calculation is location specific and based on the application of a long residual pesticide for control (e.g. omethoate). Other pesticides with shorter residual activity may have reduced efficacy.

RLEM life cycle

Image with thanks to Cesar Australia.

Know your mite

TIMERITE® is effective against RLEM, but not against other pasture and crop mites – so it’s important you know which pest you’re dealing with before deciding to spray. Additionally, RLEM has evolved resistance to several pesticides that are commonly used. It is important that you are aware of resistance issues in your local area before spraying.

RLEM

Blue oat mite

Images with thanks to Cesar Australia.

When should I use the TIMERITE® spring spray?

Only spray if you need to. Overuse of spraying can lead to pesticide resistance, which is becoming more widespread in RLEM.

First reduce RLEM risk with the following strategies:

Avoid sowing highly susceptible pasture species or crops into paddocks known to have high mite numbers
Incorporate a cereal crop into your rotation to reduce mite numbers
Manage weeds, especially broadleaf weeds in the paddock and along fencelines
Heavily graze pasture in spring and burn stubble to reduce mite numbers the following autumn.

Spray according to your TIMERITE® Best spray date if:

You can see high numbers of RLEM on plants or significant feeding damage across your paddock in spring, and
You are planning to reseed clover or medic pasture, or
You are planning to plant a mite-susceptible crop next year, such as canola.

Find your TIMERITE^® Best spray date

Type your postcode into the box below, select your locality from the list, then click ‘Calculate TIMERITE’ to get your TIMERITE^® Best spray date.

Green line = Best spray date

Red line = User selected spray date (you can move this to different dates to see the effect on diapause and population recovery below)

Grey box = Best window of opportunity

Mite control efficacy (%)

Mites going into diapause

Mites in diapause (%)

Mite population recovery following control

Relative population size from time of control

Successful control of RLEM depends on the right timing. Spraying too early in spring allows populations to recover before the season end, while spraying too late means the populations will already be in diapause (eggs are ready for ‘oversummering’).

The TIMERITE® Best spray date is the calculated point of maximum control.

The TIMERITE® Best window of opportunity is the period where control is still very high (at least 95% as good as the TIMERITE® date).

The graphs above show the RLEM diapause status and relative population abundance through time following spraying (control), as marked by the red line.

Change the TIMERITE® User selected spray date red line on the first graph (by clicking on the circles on the black line) to observe the effect of different spray dates on population recovery and the importance of using the TIMERITE® Best window of opportunity to your advantage.