Interfarm announced emerging wild-oats Warrant treatment

Date:04-01-2011

Interfarm UK Ltd is pleased to announce that they will be handling the fenoxaprop-p-ethyl wild-oat herbicide, Warrant on behalf of Bayer CropScience.  “With reports of many wild-oats emerging in wheat as a consequence of frequent frosts, we are pleased to be able to offer growers one of the best wild-oat products available,” says Dr. David Stormonth, Technical Manager for Interfarm UK Ltd.

"ADAS have reported that the cold winter seems to have sparked a huge flush of spring-germinating wild-oats in wheat in some areas.  Growers are being advised to keep an eye on weed emergence and be prepared to apply a post-emergence herbicide when this emergence is complete, which is likely to be in the next couple of weeks.  Foliar-acting herbicides based on fenoxaprop have been recognised for many years as being very effective grass-weed herbicides.  Warrant is the only Bayer-formulated fenoxaprop-p-ethyl on the market today and takes over from the popular Cheetah Super,” explains David.

"Warrant is an 83 g/l formulation of fenoxaprop, whereas Cheetah Super was a 55g/l product.  So dose rates need to be clarified.  The dose rate of Warrant also increases as the weed size increases, but reduced rates can be used if Warrant is mixed with an appropriate mineral or methylated rapeseed adjuvant oil.  For wild-oats up to Growth stage 23, Warrant can be applied at 0.33 l/ha plus adjuvant oil.  For grass-weeds up to Growth Stage 30, the rate should be 0.5 l/ha plus oil, and for weeds up to GS 39, the top dose rate is 0.66 l/ha plus oil,” explains Dr. Stormonth.

In addition to wild-oats, Warrant has good activity on rough-meadow-grass and awned canary grass, from two leaves up to growth stage 31 of the weed.

David reminds growers that Warrant has excellent crop safety and no LERAP.  “It can also be mixed with many broad-leaved weed herbicides to tidy up on weed control in wheat.  Just one application can be made per crop.”

"Per individual plant, wild-oats are the most competitive annual grass-weed in cereals and in experiments just one plant per metre squared can reduce wheat yields by up to 1 t/ha in winter cereals.  This is because, whilst they have a very similar nutrient-demanding life-cycle growth habit to cereals, they can grow larger than cereals, literally shading the crop.  Wild-oats also contaminate grain which is costly to remove and they act as host for some damaging viruses, insect pests and nematodes,” explains David.