Weather: There looks to be plenty of good weather in the forecast for the coming week which will suit growers who have a lot of spraying to do across many crops.
Spring herbicides: Spring barley is the biggest crop in the country and the vast majority of it will be sprayed for weeds this week or in the coming week.
The basis of the mix should be a sulphonyl urea product with a partner. Using a partner like fluroxypyr allows you to control wild oats at the same time. There are a number of problem weeds that you should look out for.
To control resistant chickweed you need fluroxypyr in the tank mix. The rate of Galaxy, which contains fluroxypyr, has been reduced in recent years. The rate of 1l/ha is generally not enough to control chickweed so the product needs to be topped up with Pastor Trio, which is basically the same product or you can top up with straight fluroxypyr, so a product like Binder or Reaper.
Pixxaro is another option. Pixarro contains the Arlyex herbicide, along with fluroxypyr. A full rate of Pixarro of 0.5l/ha, along with an adjuvant should control it. You don’t need an adjuvant if there are a number of products in the tank.
If you have Corn Marigold you need to include Clopyralid in the mix. Clopyralid is also contained in Galaxy. Once again you need to top it up. This time with straight Clopyralid in a product like Lontrel, formerly known as Shield.
Poppies have long been a weed that is hard to get under control. Zypar and Pixarro can be used to control them in spring crops.
Axial is the main product to control wild oats and it also gives you some activity on canary grass and Italian ryegrass. Although resistance is building in some cases. Make sure to use the correct rates. Applications at this time of the year at the early stages of growth can be 0.5l/ha. However, for bigger plants the rate needs to increase to 0.82l/ha. For Italian ryegrass 0.82l/ha is the minimum supported rate of Axial Pro when applied in a mix.
Nutrition: Make sure to get nutrition onto spring crops now to get on top of deficiencies. Nutrients like manganese and magnesium need to be applied as early as possible.
Winter crops: Fresh mildew has been reported on Champion winter wheat. It’s one to watch out for as it has a high resistance score at eight for the disease. It may require the addition of a mildewcide in the T1 depending on what is being applied. Rust is still not under control on many crops. Get the final growth regulator onto winter barley by the flag leaf stage. Apply fungicide when the awns are peeping. Include folpet for ramularia control along with an SDHI and triazole.
Beet: Debut is no longer allowed this year so talk with your agronomist on your weed control strategy. If you are using Smart Beet make sure you are using the Conviso One herbicide and are cleaning the tank if you are travelling from Smart beet to conventional beet.
SHARING OPTIONS