Bayer is reminding growers to be on their guard against annual meadow-grass in late-sown wheat crops, particularly after roots.
“There is a good chance that wheat crops established after lifting roots won’t have received a pre-em spray,” says Jack Hill of Bayer. Based in Norfolk, many farmers in Jack’s area established wheat after sugar beet or potatoes.
“Farmers may have been planning a pre-em herbicide but once the weather turned in autumn it wasn’t possible to spray so there is likely to be annual meadow grass on these lighter soils. If left unchecked, annual meadow grass can steal yield and cause a nuisance at harvest.”
Agronomist David Youngs of Chemspec agrees that wheat after roots is most likely to need treatment this spring. Mr Youngs advises on crops mainly in North East Norfolk and estimates that around a quarter of the wheat crops he looks after will need an application of Othello (mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron + diflufenican).
“Othello can deal with fairly large annual meadow-grass and I expect it will be going on from late February. We’re looking for a sustained period of warmer weather when we make the application so that there is active growth.”
On some occasions a tank-mix partner is required with Othello to deal with specific broad-leaved weeds. “Weed size is important here, Othello can deal with reasonable sized broad-leaved weeds but once they get larger another active might be needed. Conditions have been mild so weed size may be a bit bigger than it would be normally so this is something to look out for this year.”
Othello can be used up to GS31 of the crop. For spring applications, Bayer recommends the full 1L/ha rate and the adjuvant biopower to achieve the best possible annual meadow-grass control.
As with all herbicides application technique is important; the target leaf must be dry with at least two hours drying time for the product to become rainfast.
