Use spring barley as a break crop

In recent years, many farmers have moved away from a predominantly autumn based cropping plan and have introduced spring barley into their rotation. In the newly revised AHDB Planting Survey 2018, the area of spring barley estimated to be around 804,000 hectares this year – up 7% from 2017. This is the third year in a row that spring barley has expanded in area. This surge is said to be due in part to the effort to tackle agronomic challenges including the control of black-grass, says crop protection company Gowan.

“Our two formulations of the active ingredient tri-allate, Avadex Excel 15G and Avadex Factor both have spring barley recommendations on their labels and should provide the foundation against black-grass control,” says Kuldip Mudhar, Development Manager for UK and Ireland for Gowan. “They are a great start to any grass-weed programme – in the autumn or spring. They add to the control of black-grass but also wild oats, meadow grass and bromes plus a good spectrum of broad-leaved weeds including cleavers, chickweed, common poppy, field speedwell, forget-me-not, ivy-leaved speedwell, and red dead nettle.

“Some of these broad-leaved weeds are difficult to control in a combinable crop rotation. So, spring barley plus Avadex can act as a credible break crop for both grass and broad-leaved weed.

“Avadex Granules are applied pre-emergence at 15kg/ha and the liquid formulation – Avadex Factor can be used pre-planting and incorporated or pre-emergence at 3.6 l/ha. Both should be applied to well prepared moist seedbeds. Tri-allate enters the coleoptile of the weed seed as it germinates and boosts the overall efficacy of the weed control programme. They can then be followed by a flufenacet-containing herbicide,” reminds Kully.