New herbicide tank mix options against broadleaf weeds in cereals are not only being praised for their role in better controlling weeds, but also for their reduced impact on following crops and related benefits to farming systems.
North of Ravensthorpe, in WA's southern agricultural region, the Chambers family has turned to a new Group 2 herbicide partner with its broadleaf weed control applications in cereals that has improved following legume pastures in their program.
Kye and Mitchell Chambers, together with their wives, Portia and Sophie, and parents, Andy and Jenny, crop more than 9000 hectares to mainly wheat, barley and canola, as well as oats, faba beans and vetch, while they also manage about 1000ha of pasture that includes biserrula and serradella to support a crossbred livestock enterprise.
Areas can return to pasture after barley following wheat and the family previously added clopyralid herbicide to their broadleaf weed control brews that can include MCPA, bromoxynil and diflufenican herbicides, however it affected their legume pastures.
They have since switched to using Priority post-emergent herbicide with the brews and noticed improvement in the pastures, as well as control of the target weeds.
"With our pasture base, it's good not to have the herbicide carryover with the legumes we have in our system," Kye Chambers said.
"Volunteer biserrula can come up as a carpet and where we previously used clopyralid in the wheat, we noticed it knocked the nodules in the third year, after barley.
"The use of Priority in the wheat didn't knock the nodules, so we stopped using clopyralid.
"We can also use Priority in the barley now, before the following pasture."
Mr Chambers said the new tank-mix partner also was improving control of weeds including marshmallow, capeweed, turnip and radish, as well as volunteer vetch.
Developed by ADAMA Australia, 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.
It controls about 60 weeds and has the added benefit of good crop safety for following crops.
"On the radish, we were also previously using ester (herbicide), but we are now adding the Priority to MCPA, bromoxynil and diflufenican," he said.
"We might have done a straight ester or MCPA with diflufenican, and then also added clopyralid, it would make the marshmallow or vetch sick, but it would not kill it.
"The MCPA, bromoxynil and diflufenican brews would also control most weeds, but not quite enough, whereas Priority now provides good knockdown and residual control.
"It's improving our production and it's stopping the weeds for next year."
Market development manager with ADAMA Australia in WA, Bevan Addison, said the registration of additional tank-mix partners for use with Priority and extra target weeds was broadening the herbicide's weed control spectrum even further.
"It's such a flexible product that can be mixed with all common herbicides," Mr Addison said.
"There's now around 60 target weeds on the label, including control of volunteer legumes in fallows.
"In WA, it has provided robust control of so many weeds, including difficult weeds like fleabane, and it doesn't have the carryover concern of some alternatives.
"It also works really well on self-sown canola and legumes like lupins, field peas and faba beans.
"Now registered for use with herbicides like Quadrant, if growers use this and they also have some self-sown canola or field peas to hit, adding Priority will clean them up the best.
"You only have to look at the spectrum of weeds they control to realise a combination of the two will sort it out.
"It will control pretty much everything and it's quite economical at about $30 per hectare, including with the oil.
"If there's been some summer rain, it can also boost your options and has been handy on melons and wireweed."
Mr Addision said this early use had demonstrated that, despite the broadleaf weed situation growers could face in cereals, Priority would control a broader weed spectrum and it offered more versatility and recropping flexibility than other herbicide options.
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.
