BASF: New LibertyLink gives Australian canola growers added in-crop flexibility

• LibertyLink canola system – consisting of InVigor^® LT 4530P canola and Liberty^® Herbicide – has been launched in Australia

• InVigor LT 4530P is tolerant to triazine and Liberty Herbicide, and contains BASF’s unique PodGuard^® trait to reduce pod shatter and seed loss at harvest

• Liberty Herbicide gives growers the option of using an extra herbicidal mode of action to improve in-crop weed control

BASF’s LibertyLink canola system has launched in Australia. Consisting of InVigor LT 4530P canola and Liberty Herbicide, the launch of the LibertyLink system allows canola growers to use an extra herbicidal mode of action to improve in-crop weed control.

LibertyLink is a herbicide-tolerant trait that will help broadacre farmers manage and slow key weeds’ increasing resistance to clethodim and glyphosate, which have been relied on for weed control in TT (triazine-tolerant) and Roundup Ready^® canola respectively. Australia’s first LibertyLink canola variety, InVigor LT 4530P, is an early-mid maturity hybrid.

Growers of LibertyLink hybrid canola can spray Liberty Herbicide ‘over the top’ for broad-spectrum weed control.

Liberty Herbicide has been registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) exclusively for use in LibertyLink canola. Its active ingredient, glufosinate-ammonium, has a Group 10 mode of action (formerly classified as Group N) which has not previously been registered for use in any broadacre winter crop.

Using Liberty Herbicide in LibertyLink crops is optional, and most growers who choose to use it are expected to be targeting resistant annual ryegrass.

“Australian farmers have been keen to add our LibertyLink technology to their cropping programs for a long time,” said Gavin Jackson, Head of BASF Agricultural Solutions Australia and New Zealand. “Our breeding experts reintroduced the trait seven years ago, and now we’re set to launch a series of high-performing, versatile varieties at a time when the new herbicide tolerance has become more important than ever. Liberty Herbicide will help growers manage the threat of clethodim and glyphosate resistance to keep the canola phase in their rotations and maintain its exceptional profitability.”    

The name of the first LibertyLink canola variety, InVigor LT 4530P, reflects many of its attributes. The ‘LT’ coding indicates that it is both LibertyLink and TT. The ‘P’ signifies that it also contains BASF’s unique PodGuard pod-strengthening trait, which gives growers the flexibility to direct-head the crop or windrow it later than usual with minimal seed loss through shattering.

The LibertyLink trait is produced by genetic modification, so all LibertyLink crops will be classified as GM and subject to the same management requirements as Roundup Ready crops.

A second LibertyLink variety, containing both the new trait and TruFlex® glyphosate-tolerant technology, has been included in this year’s National Variety Trials (NVTs) and is expected to be available for commercial cropping in 2023.