Published on 07/12/2022
Spring sown forage crops are a perfect example.
The last thing your customers want in their brassicas, fodder beet and/or chicory is a lot of persistent grass weeds and low value grass species.
Annual poa, couch, barley grass, bristle grass, brown top, ryegrass and brome – among others – compete with newly-sown forage crop seedlings for space, light and nutrients, potentially suppressing crop dry matter.
But there’s another equally important reason to keep them at bay: They are bad for the new pasture which usually follows such crops.
“Once those new pastures are sown, your farmers have very limited opportunity to control undesirable grass species,” points out Nufarm technical specialist Paul Addison. “Yet the presence of such non-sown grasses is a major reason for renewing pastures in the first place.”
So controlling unwanted grass in the early stages of forage crop establishment is doubly beneficial, for both the sake of the crop itself, and the long-term persistence and performance of pasture sown subsequently.
One selective post-emergence grass weed herbicide has the benefit of being registered for many spring-sown forage crops – fodder and sugar beet, forage brassicas, chicory, plantain, as well as lucerne, clovers and other legumes.
SeQuence is registered on 22 grass weeds, including ryegrasses, annual summer grasses, wild oats, cultivated couch and annual Poa, Addison says.
Easy to measure, and rainfast in one hour, SeQuence contains the active ingredient clethodim, a Group 1 herbicide, and is compatible with a range of tank mix partners.
Unlike some other options, SeQuence also offers easy to follow grazing withholding periods, with no requirement for animals to spend time on untreated feed before milking or slaughter.
Grazing withholding periods for SeQuence are three weeks for legume crops, forage herbs and forage brassicas; and nine weeks for fodder and sugar beet.
SeQuence must always be used with Bonza and may be tank mixed with Archer 750, Prestige or a range of other herbicides if broadleaf weed control is also required. Attack may be added to SeQuence when pest control is needed.
For best results, SeQuence and Bonza should be applied to young, actively growing grassweeds, at rates recommended for the species present.
Nufarm has created a comprehensive table listing application rates for all grass weeds on the SeQuence label to help you and your customers work out how much herbicide is required in their crops.
For more detail, contact your local Nufarm territory manager.