Power-up Weed Control in Winter Rye and Barley
Winter barley and rye both need to be drilled relatively early in the autumn in order for them to produce well-established tillers ahead of colder winter conditions. This makes the use of stale seedbeds less relevant, therefore requiring them to be selectively sown only on land with a minimal grass weed burden. However, even in scenarios where the weed burden is low, it is still pertinent to apply a suitable post-emergence herbicide treatment to reduce the competition from any weeds that might germinate at the same time as the crop is establishing..
The small seed size of rye, and therefore its shallower drilling depth, adds to the level of accuracy required, with care needed to ensure herbicide treatments don’t detrimentally affect the germinating seed and young seedlings.
The crop protection conundrum is further complicated for barley and rye thanks to a limited choice of approved herbicides: compared to wheat – for which multiple active ingredients are available – for barley and rye there are just a handful of approved herbicides. Thankfully ADAMA has developed a strong range of options for both crops, with products such as TOWER®, ANTHEM® and CHROME® offering a wide breadth of label approvals.
The power of TOWER®
TOWER® is a unique residual herbicide containing three active ingredients for optimal weed control and resistance management:
- Pendimethalin (PDM) 300g/l
- Diflufenican (DFF) 40g/l
- Chlorotoluron (CTU) 250g/l
TOWER® is ADAMA’s key black-grass herbicideand is most effective when used in a programme with flufenacet (FFT). TOWER® also provides excellent standalone control of annual meadowgrass and broad-leaved weeds in winter and spring cereals, and improves ryegrass stacks and is effective on all brome species.
The inclusion of chlorotoluron – an active ingredient that is unique to ADAMA – provides good residual activity in a range of soils and weather conditions and adds another layer in the battle against resistance.
TOWER® has no varietal restrictions and can be used at two application timings: at pre- or post-emergence.
TOWER® is particularly useful for controlling grassweeds in rye, with its preferred timing for application being at the early post-emergence stage (GS10-11).
CHROME®… the complete herbicide
CHROME® contains a unique blend of three complementary active ingredients which deliver superior control of weeds even in the most challenging conditions:
- Chlorotoluron (CTU) 280g/l
- Flufenacet (FFT) 80g/l
- Diflufenican (DFF) 40g/l
CHROME® can be used as a standalone product to control Annual Meadow Grass infestations or as a partner product to bring CTU into blackgrass and ryegrass control programmes.
CHROME® also delivers a positive effect against all brome species and is excellent against groundsel.
CHROME® can be used as a pre-emergence or post-emergence treatment.
ANTHEM®… superior pendimethalin performance
ANTHEM® is ADAMA’s SC formulation of pendimethalin. Thanks to its SC (suspension concentrate) formulation, ANTHEM® delivers higher efficacy against grass weeds compared to standard CS (capsule suspension) formulations of the same active ingredient.
ANTHEM® is exceptionally user-friendly thanks to its easy to pour and rinse characteristics, and can be used up until BBCH 30 to provide a broad spectrum of weed control.
Although approved for use in rye, because of the vulnerability of young rye seedlings and the selectivity of shallow germinating seeds, ANTHEM® isn’t always compatible with rapidly emerging crops. It shouldn’t therefore be used on lighter sands, stony or gravelly soils as any sudden heavy rainfall events will wash the active into the crop’s rootzone where it could cause significant damage to the developing plant.
Find out more
For more information about ADAMA’s range of barley and rye-safe herbicides, please go to www.adama.com/uk or click on the product links above.
