No supply shortage with FMX
With all the hoo-ha about product shortages for some pre-em herbicides for wheat, Interfarm are inviting advisors and farmers to plan ways to integrate the unique active ingredient FMX, (flumioxazin), into their weed control programmes this autumn.
Sold as SumiMax or Digital, (FMX) is being put forward as a useful and valuable option to fill the supply gap, as it offers exceptional control of many difficult broad-leaved weeds as well as good control of annual meadow-grass and some useful activity on black-grass. "It can form a good foundation product for either a black-grass or annual-meadow-grass programme. FMX can be mixed with a number of grass-weed herbicides, including Defy (pre-em only), Liberator or chlorotoluron, as well as being sequenced with any other herbicide or group. Having no following crop restrictions or following cultivation issues makes it a flexible herbicide to use in any weed control programmes," says Dr. David Stormonth, Technical Manager for Interfarm.
David explains that black-grass is already a major headache this autumn as its control was poor last season and growers may not able to use the higher rates of the standard pre-em products that they had originally planned. "Many growers started their programmes with stale seed beds treated with glyphosate, which has worked well. They now need to action the next step in their defence strategy by building up a sequence of herbicide treatments. Useful options to consider would be 100 mls/ha of flumioxazin mixed with 4 kg/ha of Defy or with up to 3500 gms a.i./ha of chlorotoluron, providing varieties are appropriate or, if you can get it, 0.6 l/ha of Liberator. Alone flumioxazin pre-emergence offers between 30 to 40% control of black-grass, but when mixed with other herbicides, the combination gives an excellent and additive black-grass control - a good start to any black-grass programme."
"Providing crops are reasonably hardened, FMX can also be used early post-emergence when black-grass is still small and at the 1-2 leaf stage. It fits well here as it has strong contact activity and residual activity and is from a completely different group. Here FMX can be used alone as a holding spray or can be mixed with chlorotoluron or Liberator for improved grass-weed control."
Dr. Stormonth also advises that FMX is a very useful option for annual meadow-grass control, either pre or post-emergence. "Trials and commercial use show that it performs very well on annual meadow-grass, on average 95% control, and is much more consistent than IPU ever was. FMX has a very low rate of use too, making it easy to use and minimising any risk of getting into water courses. For annual meadow-grass, FMX can be used alone or mixed with chlorotoluron at 500 gms a.i/ha or with a low rate of Liberator at 0.1 l/ha. With just one autumn treatment and you can spray and then close the gate."
Another significant advantage of FMX is its excellent broad-leaved weed control. "In trials applied early post-emergence, FMX gave 100% control of charlock, chickweed, fumitory, field pansy, groundsel, ivy-leaved speedwell, mayweed and red deadnettle, 99% control of cleavers, common field speedwell and Shepherd’s purse and 98% control of poppy. I can’t think of any other wheat herbicide that performs to this level," he reports.
Dr. David Stormonth urges growers to integrate FMX into their autumn programmes this autumn and, by doing so, they will benefit from good, cost-effective control of a wide range of weeds. "The cost of FMX has been adjusted this season to make it even more cost-effective. It’s an option you won’t want to ignore and supply levels are good!"
®SumiMax/Digital contains 300 gms ai/litre flumioxazin, formulated as a white, non-staining, easy-to-use suspension concentrate, packed in a 500 ml pack. Recommended in winter wheat, it can be used pre or post-emergence up to before GS 15 for the control of a wide range of broad-leaved weeds, including charlock, chickweed, cleavers, common field speedwell, common poppy, field pansy, fumitory, groundsel, ivy-leaved speedwell, mayweed, red deadnettle and Shepherd’s purse, and grass-weeds, including Annual meadow-grass and loose silky bent. It is recommended at 100 ml/ha in 200 litres of water, with one application per crop. It has residual and contact activity. It is compatible with a wide range of autumn products, but should not be mixed with any adjuvants or with pendimethalin products. It can be sequenced with any product including sulphonylureas, but a 14 day interval should be allowed. Don’t forget the use of a proprietary tank cleaner before and after spraying to thoroughly clean all spray equipment, including booms, pumps, filters and lids.
Flumioxazin is available as SumiMax and Digital, supplied by Interfarm UK Ltd.
