Australia
January 20, 2014

The 2014 winter cropping season is set to be a big year for Clearfield® wheat varieties as growers tackle fallow weeds with residual herbicides.

Agronomists have put seed suppliers on notice that there is likely to be high demand for varieties such as Australian Grain Technologies’ (AGT) Elmore CL Plus which allow for plant-backs to wheat following herbicides such as Clearfield® Intervix®.

Kerrie Gleeson, AGT Queensland/NSW territory manager says Elmore CL Plus has been specifically developed to carry two genes for tolerance to Intervix® which is a member of the imidazolinone chemical family with Group B mode of action.

“It offers one-pass, post-emergent knockdown and residual control of many major grass and broadleaf weeds including brome grass, barley grass, wild oat, Indian hedge mustard, muskweed, wild radish, wild turnip, and suppression of annual ryegrass,” Mr Gleeson said.

“The beauty of Elmore CL Plus is that it gives growers a wheat option that is well adapted to medium rainfall regions of NSW and Queensland, with a similar adaptation pattern as Janz, but with a higher yield potential.”

Angus Woods, Woods Grain, Goondiwindi, Queensland says difficult-to-control summer grasses including barnyard grass and feathertop Rhodes grass are becoming an increasing problem in the cropping areas of north west NSW and southern Queensland.

“Growers are also facing problems with fleabane and resistance among black oats populations to glyphosate and other chemicals such as Verdict® in the winter period,” Mr Woods said.

“In summer we’re getting more sporadic rainfall events which can result in weeds being very stressed one minute, and then after rainfall being large and very difficult to spray and kill.
After a big wet the country can be hard to access leaving weeds to grow large and very difficult to effectively manage, which can help to lead to the development of herbicide resistance.”

He says products such as Flame® are become popular options for residual herbicides which can be applied after harvest to kill weeds as they emerge.

“I think the technology in these varieties such as Elmore CL Plus is fantastic because you can start to treat some of these problem weeds and also rotate chemicals and chemical groups to combat herbicide resistance.”

Mr Woods says moisture retention is an important part of northern region grains production so fallow weed control is vital.

He says growers are unlikely to use residual and/or in-crop herbicides and Clearfield® wheat varieties across their whole properties but the combination is a good solution for targeting problem paddocks.

“Varieties such as Elmore CL Plus are going to become more and more popular because they perform very well are not far from the top performing varieties for yield and quality.

“You are not taking a yield hit by growing it.”

For more information, contact Angus Woods on 0438 429 163 or Kerrie Gleeson on 0427 958 259 or visit www.ausgraintech.com.
 

Website: http://www.agtbreeding.com.au

Published: January 20, 2014