And that role is only expected to grow this year, as more maize goes in the ground to replenish empty silage pits after last year's big drought and help dairy farmers capitalise on the current payout.

Fenton Hazelwood, marketing manager for BASF, says it's been great to see how many growers have taken advantage of Sharpen's technical attributes to achieve better preemergence weed control in their crops.

"We knew there was a lot of potential for this product in New Zealand, and we're very happy with the uptake, but the bottom line for merchants is that growers are getting good results and are coming back for more."

Key selling points for the new brand have been its ability to reduce grower reliance on atrazine in the pre-emergence maize spraying market, and to deliver effective weed control on paddocks which have been repeatedly cropped with maize over the years and thus are at higher risk of containing weeds resistant to atrazine.

In development for 10 years, Sharpen contains a new active ingredient, called Kixor, which provides highly effective broadleaf weed control in maize pre-emergence applications.

At the rate of 150 g per ha and in combination with pre-emergence grass weed herbicides such as acetochlor, S-metolachlor or

Frontier-P, Sharpen controls maize weeds for up to eight weeks.

“Pre-emergence broadleaf weed control is very good, to the point where in most cases post-emergence broadleaf herbicide is not required,” Hazelwood says.

And that's essential in maize, where competition from weeds during the critical establishment phase can result in significant yield losses from a crop which is meant to deliver upwards of 20 tonnes dry matter per ha.
Sharpen's active Kixor has been a blockbuster hit overseas, where it is used over millions of hectares and has revolutionised the US maize growing industry.

Fenton Hazelwood says because Sharpen is able to be used in different ways depending on the use rate, it is really two products

in one.

At 25 g per ha in a mix with glyphosate in pre-plant burn down situations it provides a substantial increase in the speed of burndown, as well as a much wider spectrum of broadleaf weeds including clover, dock, ragwort and thistles, compared to just using glyphosate alone.

It’s compatible with all forms of glyphosate and is recommended ahead of conservation tillage and sowing of new pasture as well as forage and vegetable crops.

Best performance in these situations is achieved with an adjuvant such as Hasten.

For more detail phone BASF 0800 932 273