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Planning a black-grass control programme  

Planning a black-grass control programme

Programme planning for tough grass-weeds

A planned programme of control, incorporating several modes of action, is vital for black-grass control.  But faced with predictions of dormant seed and tight autumn schedules can compromises be struck?  Lincolnshire agronomist Sean Sparling and ADAS's Sarah Cook discuss programme planning for tough grass-weeds with Bayer's Gordon Anderson-Taylor.


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It's important to get the right start to a weed control programme so irrespective of dormancy predictions growers should be looking to use stale seedbeds and glyphosate at the beginning of the season.

High dormancy will mean black-grass germinates more slowly but Sarah and Sean warn against waiting for late flushes.  According to the experts there will be little or no spring germination from autumn crops so black-grass should be treated at the earliest opportunity - dormancy predications are a useful indicator but only form part of the jigsaw.

To get the most out of pre-emergence treatments Sarah advocates a drill, spray, drill, spray approach to avoid the risk of black-grass plants getting too big.  Flufenacet-based products, such as Liberator, will deliver 60-80% control of black-grass but delaying treatment beyond the pre-em timing can lead to drop off in control of 20-40%.

Atlantis treatments should go on as soon as possible, and when black-grass is small - even if stale seedbeds and pre-ems have worked well.  It's better to treat black-grass in the autumn at 1-3 leaf stage than wait until the spring and risk yield losses if applications are delayed.

 

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