Weeds added to DuPont Prairie herbicide combo's label

A dual-action herbicide launched last year for use against broadleaf weeds in Prairie wheat and barley crops can go up against a couple of extra weeds this year.

DuPont Canada's crop protection wing on Tuesday confirmed a label expansion for Barricade -- a combination of two Group 2 soluble granular herbicides (thifensulfuron-methyl and tribenuron-methyl) with fluroxypyr, a Group 4 product -- to cover control of flixweed and narrow-leaved hawk's-beard.

The two additional weeds "are growing problems in Western Canada, partly due to the trend to reduced tillage," Jon Gough, product manager for DuPont, said in the company's release.

The combination of wet conditions in 2010 and a late spring in 2011 across much of the Prairies could mean growers will face "even tougher" weed pressure in cereals, the company said.

With the cold and wet spring, Gough said, some growers may have to forego a pre-seeding burnoff and rely more on in-crop herbicide applications.

The company also bills Barricade as an "excellent" tool to help manage herbicide-resistant weed biotypes. Broadleaf weeds already covered on the label include cleavers, kochia, hemp-nettle, cow cockle, stinkweed, volunteer canola and wild buckwheat.

In the Barricade package, DuPont provides the Group 2 and 4 products separately under the names Barricade SG and Perimeter respectively.

Both of the Group 2 products are used at different levels in other DuPont weed killers such as Refine and Triton, Viterra's Retain and Broadside, Cheminova's Nimble and Arysta's Deploy. fluroxypyr is an ingredient in products such as Dow AgroSciences' Prestige and Nufarm's Trophy.