Running an intensive cropping operation at Milford, near Temuka, Nick Ward says that after using Paradigm herbicide on a

cereal crop for the first time last year, he has been impressed by its robust control of weeds, flexibility of a wide application window and crop safety.
 

“We had a paddock where we pulled out fence lines to install irrigation, creating a weed problem. As with any new chemistry, I was a bit apprehensive, but Paradigm did a fantastic job on fumitory and cleavers and we will be using it again this year.”
 

No crop scorch or yield loss occurred, with the crop of biscuit wheat yielding 15.7 tonnes per ha.
 

“As I have learnt more about Paradigm, I realise its versatility. It can be used from winter right through to spring, and can be mixed in the tank with a range of plant growth regulators, fungicides and insecticides. In contrast, other herbicides usually

require a separate pass.
 

“It has a huge opportunity to be part of our cereal spraying programme.
 

“We use Firebird as a pre-emergence herbicide and Paradigm is ideally suited to follow this in late winter or early spring as it

controls fumitory and cornbind.
 

“Last season we applied Paradigm at the end of May, when it was cold, and I was impressed with how active it was over winter.

So if weeds are there at the onset of winter, we can deal with these then.”
 

Fourth generation farmers, the Wards grow a wide range of crops including grasses and brassica for seed, hybrid vegetable seeds, particularly spinach, radish and red beet, as well as wheat, barley and onions.
 

“As a specialist seed producer growing a range of crops, we are very impressed with Paradigm and its ability to be applied

through to growth stage 39 without having any impact on the following autumn crop. As Paradigm has no residual, we can get early specialist crops back in the ground, like brassicas, vegetable seed and autumn onions, Nick Ward says.
 

“In spring there is a lot of pressure with the spraying programme. If we can put Paradigm in the spray tank as well and it is compatible with other chemicals, that is a great advantage. By using minimum tillage we have reduced cultivation times to 30 minutes a hectare, and our next ambition is to reduce the number of crop vehicle passes with the sprayer and fertiliser spreader.
 

“As Michelle and I have always said, we don’t own the land we are just caretakers for the next generation. This includes the agri-chemicals we use and Paradigm has a good fit in our crop spraying programme without any negative impacts on the land.”
 

The Wards were 2009 winners of the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
 

Trialled in Canterbury, Paradigm contains the new active ingredient Arylex and is suitable for barley, wheat and triticale crops without loss of yield.