Positive first year results for new residual

Article taken from The Vegetable Grower Magazine

Potato grower Richard Ryman and Agrovista Agronomist Luke Hardy say they have had promising first season results with the new pre-emergence herbicide Praxim. Staffordshire based Richard Ryman Farming Ltd opted to relook at their weed control strategy 12 months ago, coinciding with the launch of this new active into the market. ""We grow 8 varieties, mainly for the chipping market, across 130 hectares of land on a wide variety of soil types, so devising one standard weed control strategy is extremely difficult given the diverse growing conditions we encounter," says company owner Richard Ryman.
 ""As 80% of our and is rented the weed spectrum we encounter is enormous. Almost every field is different with cleavers, black bindweed, brassica weeds and wild oats being just some of a long list of usual suspects we see year on year"". According to Agrovista agronomist Luke Hardy, who has worked with Mr Ryman for over 5 years, the timing was ideal to look at a new strategy to include the new active, metobromuron. ""I always saw 2015 as a 'look-see' year for putting Praxim into the herbicide programme.

With no soil type or variety restrictions it offered us something new and with linuron still available, we were able to compare their respective performances under the same year growing conditions. ""I'm always cautious with any new active so we trialled Praxim on 25 hectares of land, roughly one sixth of Richard's growing area," he explains. ""You have to be decisive with pre-em's so my advice has always been to spray once the ridges have settled (about 2-3 weeks after planting ) combining linuron and metribuzin with another residual such as clomazone or prosulfocarb, and follow just before crop emergence as required with a contact. ""My 2015 strategy was initially 2 litres of Praxim, 0.5 kg of metribuzin and 0.15 litres /ha of clomazone and we soon noted the fields were cleaner than the comparison fields where we had continued to use linuron. ""I found Praxim to be particularly good against wild oats which enabled me to cut out a graminicide later on and there was no follow up required on the brassica weeds either which was pleasing," says Mr Hardy.