Growers turn to tank mix partner for improved broadleaf weed control
Pictured shows the control provided by a tank-mix application of Priority® and Quadrant® post-emergent herbicides in an ADAMA Australia trial near Roseworthy in SA.
HERBICIDE tank mix partners designed to boost control of treatments against weeds are becoming a stronger option for many growers to help manage difficult populations.
One of the more powerful tank mix partners emerging in recent seasons, providing significantly improved broadleaf weed control from a range of herbicides in cereal crops, is the Group 2 post-emergent herbicide, Priority®, from ADAMA Australia.
Priority is a flexible and cost-effective tank mix partner that is helping to broaden the control of broadleaf weeds, as well as volunteer pulses and canola, and it is being praised by growers, particularly on hard-to-control weeds.
ADAMA Australia Portfolio Manager – Herbicides, Rob Walker, said Priority was an ideal choice in tank mixtures to improve the weed spectrum, targeting more than 60 broadleaf weeds depending on the tank-mix partner utilised, and to control volunteer canola and non-imidazoline tolerant varieties of canola. Importantly, it also offered excellent crop safety and allayed residue concerns in oaten hay and following crops and pastures.
Priority contains florasulam, an acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor, in a suspension concentrate formulation and once absorbed via weed foliage, it is translocated to the growing points via the xylem and phloem.
“An important benefit of florasulam is that it does not bind to stubble or plant material and has a relatively short half-life in the soil. Reduced soil residual enables greater flexibility for rotation crop options compared with other Group 2 herbicides such as metsulfuron or clopyralid (Group 4),’’ Rob said.
Priority is effective against susceptible weeds from the two to eight-leaf stage, depending on the weed species and/or weed size.
It can be applied with registered tank mix partners including LVE MCPA 570, Marathon®, Triathlon®, Picoflex®, MCPA 750, Quadrant®, Zulu® XT, 2,4-D Amine, 2,4-D Ester, Flagship™ 400 and Bronco® MA-X between the three and flag leaf crop stages (GS13-37).
ADAMA Australia Portfolio Manager – Herbicides, Rob Walker, said Priority was an ideal choice in tank mixtures to improve the weed spectrum, targeting more than 60 broadleaf weeds depending on the tank-mix partner utilised, and to control volunteer pulses and non-imidazoline tolerant varieties of canola
Steve Fischer, Market Development Manager with ADAMA Australia in Victoria, said Priority had shown strong capability to be mixed with various herbicides for improved control of key broadleaf weeds in cereals, including volunteer pulses, wild radish and other brassica weeds.
“Priority can now be applied in a tank mix with Affinity® Force and MCPA 750 herbicides without a wetter. This mix also can be used to target the difficult bifora weed, which is more prevalent around Horsham, as can new tank mixes with Quadrant® and Triathlon® herbicides,” Steve said.
Paul Castor, with Northern New South Wales and Southern Queensland consultancy group, Michael Castor and Associates (MCA), said the scheduled use of residual herbicides had become a critical component of fallow weed management in the region.
“This has provided much better management of fallow weeds with resistance to key fallow knockdown herbicides. However, fallow residuals will never manage the full spectrum of fallow weeds. One key weed group which is not well managed with fallow residuals is volunteer legumes. Chickpeas are our most common grain legume, but growers can also be chasing volunteers of faba bean and mungbean,” Paul said.
“Traditionally, metsulfuron herbicide mixtures have been used for management of volunteer legumes. However, it can hang around on our high pH soils, particularly in dry conditions, and that can create problems with re-cropping intervals. Summer crops have particularly long re-cropping intervals following the use of metsulfuron. It can throw things out of whack.”
He said the industry had needed fallow herbicide options with shorter residual control than metsulfuron and it had fortunately arrived in the form of the tank-mix partner, Priority, which had proved ideal in mixes with glyphosate and fluroxypyr.
“It offers a nice weed control spectrum, it works well with fluroxypyr for other weeds, we know it’s very active on volunteer legumes and it’s a lot easier to use than other herbicides over summer.”
“It also mixes well with glyphosate and does not impact glyphosate activity on other target weeds.”
Paul said Priority also had provided another option to reduce the use of phenoxy herbicides in northern fallow knockdown programs.
“Off-target drift of phenoxys is a particular concern over summer in cotton growing regions.”
He said in winter cereal crops, Priority was increasingly being used with picloram and MCPA herbicide applications.
“Sowthistle is a key target and metsulfuron was previously used in these mixes to broaden the weed control spectrum, however varietal crop tolerance work has shown it can be risky. Priority, however, appears safer to use in-crop, as well as having the much shorter period for re-cropping.”
Steve Fischer, Market Development Manager with ADAMA Australia in Victoria
Jim O’Connor, Market Development Manager with ADAMA Australia in Southern Queensland, said in winter cereals, post-emergent tank mixes of LVE MCPA and Priority, and in some cases Picoflex® (picloram) or Flagship™ (fluroxypyr), also were targeting brassica weeds as well as volunteer pulses.
“Priority is good on radish and turnips and the control spectrum also includes Mexican poppy, climbing buckwheat and sowthistle. We don’t have much Group 2-resistant wild radish, so Priority has very good efficacy on these weeds, however we still have to carefully manage our Group 2 applications,” Jim said.
He said Priority was an ideal spike with LVE MCPA tank mixes to broaden the weed control spectrum without compromising plantback flexibility.
“LVE MCPA and Picoflex is a popular mix where growers also may be comfortable with the plantback – and Priority won’t alter that. If growers are conscious of re-cropping intervals and the ability for double cropping, Priority is a great fit with their post-emergent herbicide mixes.”
Jim O’Connor, Market Development Manager with ADAMA Australia in Southern Queensland
For further information on the use of Priority post-emergent herbicide as a tank-mix partner against broadleaf weeds in cereal crops, growers can contact their local ADAMA Australia representative or visit ADAMA.com.
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