ENGLAND — The Slimers project in England developed slug prediction maps that enabled test growers to reduce slug pellet use by half. The project also identified three areas of the wheat genome responsible for resistance to the grey field slug.

The Slimers project, which stands for Strategies Leading to Improved Management and Enhanced Resilience to Slugs, is a three-year initiative with a budget of £2.6 million. It began in 2023 and is scheduled to conclude in late August. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs funds the project, which the British On-Farm Innovation Network leads.

As part of the project, a team of 28 farmers worked with scientists to increase understanding of slug behavior. These farmers set up traps, specifically large plastic saucers, on their land. Data collected from these traps and soil samples were then incorporated into a computer model, which utilized an algorithm to predict slug locations in arable fields. Professor Keith Walters and a team from Harper Adams University created this slug prediction model. The resulting slug prediction maps underwent testing by 16 farmers through the previous autumn and winter.

Walters stated, "We already knew that slugs didn't occur randomly across fields, but that they form distinct patches according to soil type and climatic conditions." He added, "The slug sleuths' data of slug populations across their fields helped us develop that understanding further and allowed us to confirm our hypothesis about how slug patches re-form after waterlogging." Walters also said, "In waterlogged soils, [slug] patches become unstable and break down, but we have now confirmed that patches re-form temporarily in places we wouldn't expect in normal conditions and then quickly return to their predicted areas once more typical soil conditions return." Charles Paynter, a farmer in Bedfordshire who participated in the Slimers project, said, "My threshold for taking control measures is higher now because I have been able to prove to myself that I can evaluate the risks from slug activity with greater accuracy."

Slug damage to wheat and oilseed rape crops annually costs the UK an estimated £44 million. Slugs graze on the young leaves of cereal crops and consume barley, oat, and wheat seeds. They also damage potatoes and can lead to the abandonment of entire fields if an infestation is present. The chemical metaldehyde, once common in UK slug control products, was banned in 2022, resulting in increased reliance on ferric phosphate pellets.