While the recent rain has seen sowing programs ramp up this week, growers are reminded weeds are fast emerging and to make thorough weed control a priority.
The best approach is to identify what weeds each paddock has and to take the opportunity to get a good kill with a knockdown.
In paddocks being sown now, weeds can be controlled in one pass (ie pre-emergent and knockdown chemicals in one tank mix).
Paddocks being sown later in the program will still benefit from a knockdown now if weeds are present but are likely to also require a pre-em herbicide application at sowing. In this scenario delaying the knockdown until sowing is not recommended as weeds will rob precious moisture from the soil and act as a host for disease.
Identifying weeds at the early dicot stage can be challenging.
While identifying weed species is step one, be sure to consider the following factors before heading out to spray:
- Could any of these weeds be resistant and should I consider a double knock?
- Will there be any plantback issues or withholding periods (WHPs) that need to be observed after using the selected products? (eg. 2-4D products where sowing canola or Lontrel® where sowing legumes. An option is to use non-residual spikes with higher rates of glyphosate.)
- How will herbicide tolerant volunteers be best managed? (eg. Ally will control volunteer TT canola varieties but not IT canola varieties.)
Also remember to read the herbicide label and ask your consultant if you have any questions or concerns. For users of smart phones or tablets a good resource is the APVMA app. Download this app and you can have all your chemical labels at your fingertips. For the link, click here.
