Wheat growers opened the 2026 fungicide season with the sprayer loaded and the calculator out. A conversation on The Farming Forum that began in the third week of April, as the first main sprays of the year went on, became a running audit of what disease control is worth in a spring without rain: premium chemistry against ten-pound generic mixes, rust rather than septoria driving the decisions, and the advice bill itself under scrutiny.
By TFF News | 13 October 2026 | Arable
The conversation ran from 19 April to 8 May 2026 and drew 107 visible contributions, 7,164 views and 150 reactions, an average of 1.4 reactions per contribution, peaking on 22 April. These figures describe a single conversation among the farmers who chose to join it. They are not a representative survey of the sector.
Spend first, septoria second
Cutting the spend carried 22 contributions, the second largest theme. One contributor put the sticker shock plainly: “Problem is that the price point for T1 is now £45 hectare.” He then asked who would drop the main septoria product altogether: “Who is up for not including a decent septoria active and going for 0.5 Teb + 0.5 Ptz or Az for £10 hectare.”
A grower weighing a recommendation worth more than £50 a hectare said “Unless it rains soon, the spend is getting cut back somewhat. This is hardly prime septoria weather and yield potential is starting to look shaky.” Another had moved past product choice entirely: “The main debate for me is not what to apply but will I bother this year?” A third set out a holding position of cheap tebuconazole and generic azoxystrobin, concluding “my take on it is ill start spending when it starts raining.”
The weather kept making the argument for them. “Some Punchy T1’s going on. Best T1 here would be an inch of rain”, wrote one contributor. The dryness was measurable: AHDB’s crop development report for May recorded a drier than usual April and a dry start to May, with the share of winter wheat rated good or excellent falling from 74 per cent to 64 per cent in a month (AHDB, 29 May 2026).
The logic of spending anything at all in such a season was insurance, as one early sprayer explained: “if it turns into a wet year, the yield potential increases as well as the septoria risk, so I can afford to spend something to protect leaf 2 if required. If it stays dry the current approach is adequate.”
Rust set the agenda
What disease pressure there was came overwhelmingly from yellow rust, and one variety name kept recurring. “Anyone else’s dawsum being hammered by YR?” asked one grower. Another reported the same and the fix: “My Dawsum was getting hammered with yellow rust 3 weeks ago. I put some Teb on and it’s all disappeared now.”
The background is verifiable. A new yellow rust race overcoming the Yr15 resistance gene spread through English wheat crops in 2025, and when AHDB released its 2026-27 ratings early, twelve varieties dropped by two points or more, with Dawsum cut by four points to 5 (Farmers Weekly). By June 2026 AHDB reported the Yr15-breaking strain present nationwide but behaving more predictably, with timely rust-active sprays largely controlling it, and updated ratings due with the next Recommended List on 30 November 2026 (AHDB). The conversation reads as that finding in real time: rust arriving on newly vulnerable varieties, and cheap tebuconazole repeatedly named as the thing that worked.
Premium or generic
Product choice and price was the largest theme at 35 contributions and produced the sharpest difference of opinion. One grower delivered a blunt value verdict on an established product: “I don’t understand why Ascra is so popular, its nearly the same price as univoq and has significantly lower performance – its over priced” That is one buyer’s assessment of relative value, not a finding, and it did not go unanswered. “Ascra was bought very well!” came the reply from a contributor who had secured his supply at the right money.
The most considered verdict declined to pick a winner: “The best Septoria fungicide is dry weather.” In a season like this one, the same contributor argued, “Both are good and both are correct choice.” Others put the emphasis on timing rather than product: “T2 remains the biggest bang for one’s buck (by far) so the vast majority of my spend goes there.”
The sprayer in the room
One product carried baggage of a different kind. Univoq, widely praised in the conversation for its septoria performance, still trails a reputation for damaging sprayer seals from its early seasons. “Univoq scares people with its sprayer eating qualities. My supplier still won’t stock it.” wrote one contributor, reporting elsewhere that some users had faced four-figure repair bills and others none.
Its defenders were long-term users. “I’ve used Univoq 4 years running without an issue (tempting fate!) at T2 and intend to again. I have always followed the recommended protocols eg 200 litres/ha and a good wash out every night.” said one, linking the manufacturer’s published stewardship guidance for others. Another was blunter about the commercial upside of a scare story: “Not had a single issue with it. I do a full washout everyday, but I do that with most things I spray. I quite like it has the reputation it has, keeps it nice and cheap and it absolutely napalms septoria!”
Advice under the microscope
Underneath the product debate sat a quieter one about whose judgement to buy. One contributor was happy to delegate: “I dont ask. Agronomist knows the goals and I trust him to do his job.” Another took the opposite view of advice that comes attached to a sale: “Do not trust an Agronomist if they are trade, they need to sell to earn!!!” That is opinion about supply-tied agronomy, not a claim about any individual or business, and a practical answer followed: “A basis qualification pays for itself many times over for modern day farmers with an eye on costs…”
The question the trade is left with
The conversation closed without a settled answer, and its participants knew it. “I’d like to hear from those who opted for the cheapo programmes in about 3 weeks please.” asked one of the bigger spenders, only half joking. For the agrochemical trade the question runs past one season’s margin. If dry springs keep recurring, and if rust on newly vulnerable varieties is answered by the cheapest triazole in the shed rather than the newest chemistry in the catalogue, the premium programme must re-earn its place at a price point this conversation already called too high. The 2027 campaign will be priced against that memory.
Read the source conversation and analysis
Read the full conversation on The Farming Forum here.
Download the full conversation analysis as a PDF slide deck: Dry spring splits farms over fungicide spend: conversation analysis (PDF).
This conversation had been viewed 7,164 times on The Farming Forum when counted on 13 October 2026. Want your brand in the room when farmers talk arable? Book advertising with Agri Web Media.