Published on 23/04/2020
“The weather has cost a lot of farmers enough already this season,” says Hayden Toy, northern area business manager for agricultural sciences company FMC. “They can’t afford to miss any steps now with their pre-plant herbicide programme if they want optimal establishment and production from autumn-sown grass and cereals.”
Whether it’s restoring pasture growth for livestock, or setting the stage for good crop yields, weeds will compromise the outcome from day one, and there’s no shortage of them at the moment, particularly in paddocks burned off by a very dry summer, he says.
This is where FMC’s portfolio of Granstar, Hammer Force and Harmony comes into its own prior to sowing. And Hayden Toy says retailers have an important role to play here in helping find the right solution for each customer, depending on what they’re dealing with.
Granstar, for example, is an excellent companion for glyphosate when spraying out old pastures or crops prior to re-sowing. “It covers a wide range of weeds, with proven capacity to provide a very high level of control of key broadleaf species, such as hard to kill dandelions, old clovers including sub clover, thistles, yarrow, fathen, shepherds purse and many others.”
When time constraints limit options for broadleaf weed control prior to pasture renovation, crop establishment and minimum tillage, adding Hammer Force as a spike to glyphosate hits weeds harder and faster than using glyphosate on its own. “Hammer Force provides a faster brown-out of broadleaf weeds, including hard-to-kill weeds such as mallow, nettles, willow weed and water pepper.”
When docks and buttercups are the issue, Harmony is the tool of choice to ensure control of both recently germinated and well established plants is achieved. “It’s really important that docks and buttercup plants are actively growing and have good leaf area relative to root growth. This is critical for getting the best result.”
Field feedback is clearly showing that combinations of these products, depending on weed spectrum and with farmers’ preferred glyphosate rate, is significantly enhancing control of keyweeds. “For example, Granstar plus Hammer Force combined is providing outstanding and enhanced long-term control of mallow, nettle and Storksbill.“ These are common broadleafweeds coming out of summer growing conditions. ”Hammer Force has a nil grazing withholding and nil drilling withholding, a great benefit during times of uncertain weather conditions, and provides a shorter interval between spray-out and drilling.
“When using Granstar or Harmony, remind farmers they need to ensure they leave a plantback period of 14 days between spraying and sowing new pasture or crop,” he advises. It is highly recommended that if lime is needed that this is applied at least three months prior to spraying or after sowing new pasture.
As always, reading and following the label directions is essential. For more detail, contact your local FMC New Zealand representative.