Life Scientific are urging growers to protect their crops this spring and are offering cost-effective herbicides as options.
Both new products are reverse-engineered, the concept of which being the ability to manufacture a product that is accepted as the same as that of the reference product by the regulatory authority. This means off-patent products are brought to market more quickly than previously possible.
Ruth Stanley, Life Scientific’s country manager for UK and Ireland, said: “With wheat prices as high as they are, this presents a good opportunity for growers to push for higher yields and profits. It is certainly not the time to scrimp and hold back on inputs that will detract from the crop achieving its full potential. Heading into the first stages of winter, autumn sown crops are looking full of promise as a result of rapid crop development brought about by mild weather and good soil conditions.”
Recent reports state that at the end of November, 87% of the UK’s winter wheat crop was in good-excellent condition, ahead of 84% at the same time last year.
However Mrs Stanley pointed out that the mild conditions also meant that there was a limited window to flush weeds through in stale seed beds, so less opportunity to control them in the autumn, putting more pressure on control in the spring: “Well-timed herbicides will be important this spring, and success requires applying products early to small, growing weeds, which will more easily take up actives and are less able to detoxify them than larger weeds.”
New herbicides
She also recognises that a balance between expensive inputs and pushing for yield has to be struck, and this is where she believes the new herbicides will fit into a cost effective spraying programme very well. Life Scientific’s Laya herbicide is approved for spring-applied broad-leaved weed control in wheat, barley, oats, triticale and on land temporarily removed from production. For winter cereals, application must only be made after March 15 and before the specified latest time of application. For spring cereals and green cover on land not being used for crop production, this product must only be applied from April 1 in the year of harvest until the specified latest time of application.
The Leash product is a foliar acting herbicide, effective against some key challenging annual and perennial weeds in a range of crops. Leash is a selective systemic herbicide, which is effective mainly by foliar uptake, and belongs to HRAC Group 4 (Auxin mimics).
Both new products are commercially available through distribution partners, ProCam and Hutchinsons.
More information on any of these products can be downloaded at https://uk.lifescientific.com/#products
