Powering up pre-emergence weed control with pendimethalin

One way to maximise the impact of pre-emergence treatments is to include additional active ingredients in the tank mix: trials carried out over the last two years have shown that the addition of pendimethalin provides a useful ‘power up’ effect to some of the more popular herbicide box offerings.

The trials were designed to assess the benefit of adding ANTHEM^® (400g/l pendimethalin) to a boxset of Proclus^® (aclonifen) plus Liberator^® (flufenacet & diflufenican).

Powering up with PDM

The trial clearly demonstrated that the addition of ANTHEM^® significantly improved black-grass control: at six of eight independent trials (including work carried out by ADAS and NIAB), the inclusion of ANTHEM^® improved black-grass control by between 10 and 16%. The inclusion of pendimethalin was also seen to reduce the variability of black-grass control.

Additional observations showed that the four-way tank mix (aclonifen, flufenacet, diflufenican and pendimethalin) showed no obvious visual signs of phytotoxicity, but it was noted that drilling depth can affect crop vigour and reduce crop competition: where the crop was drilled too shallow, weed control was less favourable. It is therefore vital to respect the drilling depth guidance for the herbicides being used: for Proclus and ANTHEM, the recommendation is for ‘seed to be covered by a minimum of 32mm of settled soil’.

ANTHEM’s SC formulation outperforms standard CS formulations of pendimethalin when used as a tank mix partner to control black-grass

The power of DFF

Trials have also been carried out to assess the benefit of adding HURRICANE^® (500g/l diflufenican) to a boxset of cinmethylin plus pendimethalin. Once again, the addition of a third herbicide active ingredient produced a positive impact in terms of reduced variability in protection against blackgrass (upper row of images below), and delivered an improvement the control of flufenacet resistant ryegrass (lower row of images below).

Power-up your pre-emergence programme

To find out more about how the addition of either of these herbicides could add extra power to your pre-emergence weed control programme, please contact the ADAMA technical helpline on 01635 876 622 and ask to be put in touch with your local Regional Agronomy Manager.

ANTHEM^® (400 g/l pendimethalin) is ADAMA’s SC formulation of pendimethalin. It delivers higher efficacy on grass weeds compared to CS preparations of the same active ingredient, is user-friendly thanks to its easy to pour and rinse formula and provides long-lasting and reliable residual herbicide activity against tough grass and broad-leaved weeds in cereals.

HURRICANE^® (500 g/l diflufenican) delivers proven broadleaf weed control and can improve the efficacy of some grass weed herbicides. It also boasts excellent residual activity which provides enhanced weed control even in dry conditions where germination is protracted.

^{Proclus® and Liberator® are registered Trade Marks of Bayer.}