Autumn Herbicide Application - What to do when the weather is against you.
This season’s wet autumn is leading to less than optimal seed bed conditions and narrower application windows for soil acting residual products.
All soil acting residual products require a certain standard of seed bed to ensure crop safety. If your seed bed is not optimal it might be worth considering waiting for crop emergence before applying these products.
Please read the product label for detailed information.
Best start needs the best material
What remains clear is you need to use your best material first to get the best start for your black-grass control.
north_east Crystal ® has proved year after year that the combination of flufenacet and pendimethalin provides the best start to your black-grass control program. These two actives provide grassweed activity, residual performance and consistency across a wide range of conditions.
Pre-emergence black-grass trials carried out by AICC in 2018/19 highlighted the consistent performance of Crystal® giving better control than Liberator® options. Trials sprayed at 200 l/ha with flat fan nozzles.
Flufenacet is renowned for its superior grassweed control, but it’s important not to underestimate the power of pendimethalin, and the benefits it brings to a robust herbicide programme. The residual compound not only contributes to the management of black-grass, but it also offers strong broad-leaved weed control.
If you are going to reduce the number of products in your pre-emergence stack for crop safety reasons, make sure you keep the best material, Crystal® as part of the program.
Application Timing Advice
Individual product labels must be adhered to as they provide specific advice on each product. Certain products cannot be used in certain situations. Sowing depth, stressed crop, consolidated seed bed and evenness of seed bed are the main factors to take into consideration, but others do apply.
At peri-emergence the crop is very tender and susceptible to damage and stress. In general, consider the crop and how you would treat it as the same as at pre-emergence. Seed depth and seedbed conditions are important factors.
Top Tips when spraying peri-em
- Check seedbed quality and seed depth and apply same rational as pre-em.
- Ensure no waterlogging evident across the field or do not spray these areas.
- Product choice, in winter wheat Crystal® + DFF still recommended, however in winter barley apply Crystal® alone.
- Weather conditions, some rainfall after application is OK, but heavy rainfall could lead to crop damage. Check for frost risk that can lead to damage on tender plants.
- Do not compromise black-grass control. If crop has not had a pre-em, then consider a peri-em with Crystal® and post-em follow up where a pyrethroid for BYDV can be included. If a pre-em has been applied, then can wait for pyrethroid post-em timing for residual top-up. Do not compromise black-grass control by waiting for BYDV timing.
| Timing | Good seedbed | Poor seedbed |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-emergence | Continue with normal approach, stacking of multiple residual products. | Consider delaying application until early post emergence if crop drilled shallow, heavy rainfall expected or seed visible. |
| Peri-emergence Shoot visible through soil surface but not fully emerged | WW – Crystal® 4.0 l/ha + DFF WB – Crystal® 4.0 l/ha alone Pay attention to seedbed conditions | Consider delaying application until early post emergence and reducing the number of partner products in the stack. WW – Crystal® 4.0 l/ha + DFF WB – Crystal® 4.0 l/ha alone |
| Post-emergence First shoot fully emerged | Crystal® 4.0 l/ha + DFF | If post-em is your first application and the crop is not stressed, then a normal stack can be considered but check individual product labels. |
If you have any queries or require further information, please contact your local BASF agronomy manager. Contact details can be found north_east here.
Alternatively, call our technical hotline: 0845 602 2553
Crystal® contains flufenacet and pendimethalin. Picona contains picolinafen and pendimethalin. Stomp® Aqua contains pendimethalin. Liberator contains flufenacet and diflufenican. Hurricane contains diflufenican. Defy contains prosulfocarb.
Crystal® and Stomp® are registered trademarks of BASF. All other products are those of other manufacturers where proprietary rights may exist.
Always read the label and product information before use. For further product information including warning phrases and symbols refer to north_east https://agriculture.basf.com/gb/en
