United Kingdom
November 5, 2013
Whether you have grass or broad-leaved weeds on your farm, evaluating the effectiveness of control strategies is vital and understanding the reasons for those levels of control is key.
When assessing the reasons for poor control, resistance is a consideration, but there are lots of other factors which have a major impact. It is these very issues that BASF and industry partners have come together to examine at this year’s Tillage-Live Event at Welton, in Lincolnshire on Wednesday 11th September 2013.
The levels of weed control offered by herbicides in both cereals and oilseed rape can be affected by a range of factors such as poor seedbeds, excessive trash that can affect herbicide binding, lack of soil moisture, excessive weed populations, poor choice of product, late application of herbicide and poor crop competition.
However herbicide resistance is also a cause of poor control, and is increasing both globally and in the UK, so it is crucial that grass and broad-leaved weed management strategies minimise the risk of herbicide resistance.
Resistance to ALS inhibitors (e.g. sulphonylureas) in broad-leaved weeds (BLW) is of growing concern in cereals due to the over reliance on this group of herbicides, which can be used on most crops in the rotation; worldwide this mode of action exhibits the greatest incidence of resistance.
Whilst in the UK, confirmed cases of BLW resistance are relatively few, there are increasing reports of poor control in poppy, mayweed and chickweed, though it is still unclear how much is due to resistance.
“Weed control in 2012/13 was very difficult and there is a large weed legacy as a result. Evaluating what did and did not work is a vital first step to improved weed management. Incorporating the lessons learnt from grass-weed resistance with current and emerging knowledge it should be possible to prevent BLW resistance becoming a major problem” says James Clarke, of ADAS.
“Review weed control strategies regularly; it should be possible to incorporate strategies that ensure your fields are at low risk. Keeping weed populations low and using several modes of action helps reduce the risk. Choosing the right herbicides for problematic grass weeds, can also provide alternative modes of action for BLW control.”
Sarah Mountford-Smith, cereal herbicide product manager for BASF advises that in terms of herbicide choice, it is best not to rely on ALS inhibitors in the autumn or spring, and reminds growers of the vital role that pendimethalin plays in terms of preventing and managing BLW resistance whether in the form of Crystal or as tank mix partner to other products in the form of Picona or Stomp Aqua.
“Different modes of action are vital for resistance management, and pendimethalin delivers a unique mode of action, as well as delivering excellent control of both ALS resistant and sensitive poppy populations. Autumn treatment with pendimethalin based solutions not only provides an important foundation to black-grass, rye-grass and sterile brome control, it extends greatly the broad-leaved weed control offered by flufenacet, avoiding unnecessary spring herbicide costs of ~£30/ha,”she says.
During the Tillage-Live event James Clarke (ADAS) and representatives from BASF, will be available on the BASF stand to talk through these very issues. Farmers are being encouraged to come to the BASF stand to ‘map’ incidences of poor control and to discuss the reasons for this and what management changes they need to make with the experts on hand during the course of the day.
Also at Tillage-Live, BASF and Hutchinsons will be profiling the Cousins MicroWing. Developed by Cousins in collaboration with Dick Neale of Hutchinsons, the MicroWing is a purpose built tool for the establishment of oilseed rape, which disturbs less than 20% of the soil surface with each pass, reducing moisture loss and leaving weed seeds on the surface and reducing the germination of black-grass and broad leaved weeds.
“When you disturb only the top few centimetres of soil, you create a nursery bed, where seeds are encouraged to germinate. There’s therefore an active zone where residual herbicides can perform effectively, while the crop plants can grow away,” says William Reyer, Field Crops manager for BASF. “We would welcome growers to the stand where the MicroWing will be on display to discuss how this approach can improve OSR establishment and early season weed control.”
Displays and posters will be available to read and talk through on the BASF stand 101 covering these important cultivation and establishment topics, and are an integral part of the Tillage-Live Knowledge Trail. For more information on this and the event, please visit www.tillage-live.uk.com
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