Published on 21/01/2026
And in a market swamped with glyphosate options, one of the best ways to achieve this is to dig into the details, because not all glyphosates are the same, even if they do have a high load of active ingredient.
“You’ve only got to look at the number of salts contained in a glyphosate formulation, and also the length of time since they were initially discovered, which can date right back to the 1970s, to realise there’s more to this market than meets the eye,” says Nufarm North Island sales manager Richard Bell.
“And with autumn spray-out coming up, now’s a really good time to remind farmers that there’s a lot of value in understanding the differences between them.”
Bell likens using an old, single salt glyphosate to using a single active drench.
“Most farmers don’t think twice about using a triple-active drench if they need it for parasite control, so why wouldn’t they use a triple-salt glyphosate?”
Developed in 2016, Crucial (Group 9) from Nufarm is the only triple-salt glyphosate formulation on the New Zealand market with a novel surfactant package.
That means it offers performance characteristics that older technology cannot, including improved compatibility, speed of activity, rainfastness when used with Pulse Penetrant and control of harder-to-kill weeds.
The differences extend to handling attributes as well, like pourability, viscosity and mixing.
Richard Bell says if you look at a timeline of glyphosate development, the first formulation marketed in the world featured an ispropylamine salt, and was launched n 1976.
Potassium salt formulations did not arrive in the local market until 2003.
Dual-salt glyphosate reached farmers in 2013, and it was only six years ago that Nufarm released the world’s first triple-salt formulation, comprising potassium and monoammonium salts plus the novel monomethylamine salt in Crucial.
“There are still several single ispropylamine salt formulation glyphosates in the NZ market, but that’s 50 year old technology now.
“And the apparent savings in opting for these are outweighed by the costs of having to re-do a spray job if it doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to the first time.
“It’s false economy at best. You might save $2 a hectare in herbicide, only to have to spend much more to fix up a problem with crop or pasture establishment.”
With farmgate returns looking positive for many producers this season, it’s not worth taking a risk on any new pasture that will generate tonnes of low-cost, high quality home-grown feed in the months ahead, and that includes getting the right spray-out result from the start.
“A fast, reliable kill at the outset makes the rest of the process run much more efficiently, and helps ensure a good outcome,” Bell says.
This is especially the case if farmers use minimum tillage or direct drilling to reduce soil disturbance: “In these situations, it’s imperative they use the best option - they need their glyphosate formulation to do the job right the first time.”
Paddocks sprayed with Crucial can be grazed, cultivated or drilled just one day after treatment for annual weeds, and three days for perennial weeds, he adds.
That’s two to four days sooner than some other glyphosate formulations, meaning farmers can get pastures renewed quicker.
“Time is money for farmers, and getting the fastest possible turn-around at Autumn sowing is a great way to farm smarter, not harder, on a tight schedule,” he says.