Australia
May 3, 2013
Adam Kelly who farms west of Lake Boga and Senior Landmark Agronomist, John Scott from Swan Hill, successfully tamed a particularly weedy paddock last year with the help of some exciting new technology.
Adam took on the lease of the paddock a couple of years ago and has been plagued with a persistent annual ryegrass problem.
In 2011 a cereal crop in that paddock received a very high pre-sowing rate of trifluralin followed by a post-emergent spray of a Group B Herbicide with lacklustre results.
Suspecting the weeds maybe becoming resistant to these well used herbicide groups, Adam decided to trial Sakura® herbicide (a Group K Herbicide) in last year’s crop and it was a great success.
Adam said the paddock was sown with knife points and press wheels on 12 inch spacing. In the lead up to sowing there had been good summer rainfall requiring three knockdown sprays to control mainly heliotrope and melons.
The last major rain event prior to sowing was in March which John Scott explained was too early to germinate any significant amount of ryegrass.
“It stayed hot for too long and I reckon that’s what presented real weed challenges for many growers in this area. We still had 25 to 27 degree days in April and the ryegrass didn’t have the cold trigger it needed to emerge. Hence, most of it came up in the crop and it was an issue for many,” John said.
Adam said 118 g/ha of Sakura went out with a knockdown spray of glyphosate in front of the seeder. Close to 20 mm of rain soon after sowing helped incorporate the product.
“I was pretty happy with the result and I’ll use it again this year. I think if we had more rainfall during the growing season, Sakura would have worked even better,“ Adam said.
“Despite the lack of in-season rainfall, any ryegrass that did get through was pretty stunted and uncompetitive.”
Bayer Territory Sales Manager, Justin Whittakers, said in situations where there was enough early rainfall to incorporate the Sakura, it worked extremely well.
“Sakura is a bit more forgiving that other pre-emergent products in stubble situations,” he said.
“Obviously stubble covering the soil doesn’t help, but as long as there is not too much and as long as you get the rain to incorporate it, it will stop weed seeds germinating.
“I think all things considered and the type of season we had, in its first year of commercial release Sakura did a tremendous job.
“Growers typically commented on the product’s residual longevity from the point of view of controlling subsequent germinations of ryegrass.
“Brome grass suppression was another interesting farmer observation and it’s pleasing to see brome grass will be added to the Sakura label for this year.”
Registration of Sakura for suppression of brome grass and wild oats is expected in March, 2013. Bayer advise growers to always use Sakura according to the most recent registered label.
Sakura® is a Registered Trademark of Kumiai Chemical Industry Co, Ltd.
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. This year the company is celebrating 150 years of Bayer – consistent with its mission “Bayer: Science For A Better Life”. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,383 million (2012) and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 20,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries.
Bayer and its employees contribute thousands of dollars annually to a variety of organisations including Mission Australia and Aussie Helpers. Mission Australia is a community service organization that assists thousands of disadvantaged Australians every year to help them get back on their feet. Aussie Helpers is a charity that helps fight poverty in rural communities across Australia.
The Bayer CropScience Australian head office is located in Melbourne. This and further news is available at: www.bayercropscience.com.au
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