Advice for Blackgrass control with GF-2070 during January/February

How do I use Spitfire for early season Cleaver Control?

Kerb Flo - Complete Applications

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After the unseasonably mild start to January, short-term forecasts are for colder weather. Therefore conditions for the optimum efficacy with applications of ALS chemistry may not be ideal now. However, there will be opportunities when the weather turns mild again – which it often does in a typical UK winter and the advice below would apply:

• UK winters typically have mild periods during which blackgrass continues putting on an increasing number of leaves and tillers by the spring
• These mild periods do present an opportunity to continue to use GF-2070 to control the blackgrass
• Despite the very cold winter last year a break in the cold weather occurred during the latter half of January:
  • Applications of pyroxsulam products during this period provided equivalent control to those in November
  • The use of a herbicide programme helps with managing the growth of the blackgrass during the winter, reducing its size and providing some flexibility on spring timing

Therefore:

• During mild growing conditions in the winter where clear active growth is evident at the time of the application, take the opportunity to control the blackgrass with GF-2070.
• Where contact materials are not going to be applied during mild conditions, then ‘top up’ the residual chemistry to help manage the blackgrass and reduce its size come the spring

Learn more about using GF-2070 in the spring

When spraying for grassweeds, many farmers want to control cleavers (and other broad-leaved weeds) at the same time. This spring, using Spitfire* instead of Boxer* or amidosulfuron straights/co-forms presents a new, improved, robust approach to early spring weed control.

For early season cleaver control with ALS graminicides, tank-mix Spitfire at 0.5 L/ha 
(to replace 50 mls/ha of Boxer, or amidosulfuron straight/co-form), or tank-mix 0.6 L/ha Spitfire (to replace 75 mls/ha Boxer, or amidosulfuron straight/co-form).

This approach will:

• Save passes
• Protect yield by removing cleavers before they compete.

Spitfire will also give control of a wide range of additional weeds, keeping weed control simple and delivering peace of mind.  It is also exceptional value for money.

Learn more about using Spitfire in the spring

Any winter oilseed rape fields still to be treated with Kerb* Flo must have applications made before the latest allowable time of application - 31st January.

Where applications of Kerb Flo were planned last autumn, but delayed due to drought or other factors such as dense crop canopies, these applications must be completed before the 31st January.

Dow AgroSciences’ research confirms that worthwhile levels of blackgrass control, and other grassweeds, can still be achieved even from January treatments with Kerb Flo.  The temptation to use frozen ground as a means of access should be resisted, particularly if rain is forecast in the next few days. Please do everything possible to prevent applications of propyzamide reaching watercourses.

• Applications of Kerb Flo must be completed by 31st January
• Good levels of blackgrass control are still possible from January treatments
• The activity of propyzamide, the active ingredient in Kerb Flo, is maximised under cooler soil conditions
• Propyzamide is a residual herbicide with root uptake that requires even distribution in the soil profile
• Where crops have a well-established canopy, winter die-back will allow applications to reach the soil surface
• Increased rates should be used where blackgrass resistance has been confirmed
• Use is recommended in tank mix or sequence with graminicides
• Take all precautions to avoid contamination of watercourses

There is currently no known strain of blackgrass exhibiting any degree of resistance to propyzamide.

Learn more about Kerb Flo

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This spring, all applications of Dursban* WG or Equity* for Wheat Bulb-fly should adhere to stewardship advice in 'Say NO to drift' for conventional boom sprayers:

• Use LERAP – low-drift three star nozzles
• And adopt a 20 metre no-spray buffer zone (1 metre for dry ditches)

Learn more about Say NO to drift at www.saynotodrift.co.uk     

Subscribing to Dow AgroSciences' Agronomy Update & Pestwatch gives eligibility for 1 Crop Protection BASIS Points annually. Please include course name "Agronomy Update & Pestwatch" and number "CP/19948/1112/g" on your training record. These details apply until 31st May 2012.

If you require any further information please contact our technical Hotline on 0800 689 8899 or your local Dow AgroSciences representative.

Use plant protection products safely.  Always read the label and product information before use.
For further information including warning phrases please refer to the product label.

Always check individual product labels for any possible restrictions before making a tank mix recommendation. Please note where only Physical Compatibility or Sprayable with Continuous Agitation is shown, Dow AgroSciences has no biological data regarding efficacy or crop safety and only supports the compatibility, so growers use  these mixes at their own risk.

* Boxer, Dursban, Equity, Kerb and Spitfire are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC.
All other brand names are trademarks of other manufacturers for which proprietary rights may exist.

Boxer contains florasulam
Dursban WG contains chlorpyrifos
Equity contains chlorpyrifos
GF-2070 contains flupyrsulfuron-methyl-sodium and pyroxsulam
Kerb Flo contains propyzamide
Spitfire contains florasulam and fluroxypyr

More info at www.dowagro.com/uk