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Whilst much of the attention about weed control in winter wheat focuses on black-grass, the reality is that the majority of crops in the UK do not suffer from black-grass infestation, but have problems with other grasses such as annual meadow-grass or rye-grass as well as a range of broad-leaved weeds.



"In fact these non-black-grass areas tend to have a wider broad-leaved weed range due to factors such as soil type, rotation and climate. Weed control in these areas can be just as complicated as in the black-grass sector and the loss of trifluralin and IPU will only compound this complication," says Dr. Stormonth of Interfarm UK Ltd.

"However the recent introduction of the new herbicide, Digital, based on the new active ingredient, flumioxazin, is a very welcome addition to the available herbicide range. Not only does it have useful activity on annual meadow-grass and rye-grass (as well as black-grass), but it also offers full control of a very wide range of broad-leaved weeds. In trials it has shown excellent control of not just the "easy" weeds such as chickweed and speedwells, but also the more difficult ones including cleavers, poppy, cranesbill and groundsel. In trials, flumioxazin gave 100% control of charlock, chickweed, fumitory, groundsel, field pansy, red deadnettle, ivy-leaved speedwell and mayweed, 99% control of cleavers, common field speedwell and Shepherds purse and 98% control of poppy. Annual meadow-grass control is also extremely good at around 90% and rye-grass control is about 80%. With high populations of these two grass-weeds, Digital may need help with the addition of another grass-weed active herbicide such as chlorotoluron, flupyrsulfuron, or perhaps just enough prosulfocarb or flufenacet to finish the job. Such performance means that there is life after IPU after all," says David.

This view is readily endorsed by agronomist Graham Webb of Frontier Agriculture, South Western region, based in Herefordshire. "This new product looks very promising. It is good to have a new molecule in the market and in trials that I have seen the addition of low rate IPU or chlorotoluron to Digital give superb control of annual meadow-grass and also rye-grass. I am looking forward to using Digital this autumn and am pleased to see a new addition to a diminishing product range," says Graham.

Interfarm advises wheat growers that applying flumioxazin post-emergence will give better results due to both the contact and residual activities being fully utilised. "Pre-emergence use is relying only on residual activity and control of a few weed species can sometimes be slightly reduced, but post-emergence you are utilising both modes of actions and so will get higher and more consistent control across a much wider range of weeds. Flumioxazin also works best when weeds are small between 1-3 leaves and when the soil is moist. Crops must also be hardy enough to receive a post-emergence herbicide application. As is the case for all post-emergence products, it is best to avoid soft or lush crops, waterlogged crops or crops under stress. In fact, for Digital you need just normal autumn conditions."

Dr. Stormonth reminds growers that Digital has a very low use rate of just 100 ml/ha. "This means that it has a low active ingredient loading per hectare of just 30 gms a.i/hectare. Packed in a 500 ml clear, polyethylene bottle which will treat 5 hectares of wheat, it also offers minimal packaging, minimal transport cost and minimal packaging waste. After the crop has been sprayed, there are just 12 grams of plastic per hectare for the spray operator to dispose of."

Digital contains 300 gms ai/litre flumioxazin formulated as a white non-staining easy-to-use suspension concentrate and is packed in a 500 ml pack. Recommended on all varieties of winter wheat, it is recommended pre or post-emergence up to before GS 15 for the control of a wide range of broad-leaved weeds and grass-weeds. It is recommended at 100 ml/ha in 200 litres of water, with one application per crop. It has both residual and contact activity, affecting weeds via leaves, stems and emerging roots and shoots. It is compatible with a wide range of relevant autumn products but should not be used with any adjuvants. It can be sequenced with any product including sulphonylureas, but a 14 day interval should be allowed. The use of a proprietary tank cleaner is recommended immediately after spraying to thoroughly clean all spray equipment, including booms, pumps, filters and lids. Flumioxazin is available as Digital, SumiMax and Guillotine.

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