Visitors to Cereals 2007 had their first opportunity to see plots treated with Dow AgroSciences’ new brome, wild oat and ryegrass killer, pyroxsulam.

Approval permitting, pyroxsulam would take sterile brome control to new standards, plus offer activity equal to current standards against wild oats and ryegrass, according to the firm’s Stuart Jackson.

Control in development trials had averaged around 95% against wild oats, 97% against ryegrass and 82% against sterile brome, he said.

Activity was contact-only, so autumn applications would likely need the addition of a residual partner, he added. Spring applications could be made alone provided a robust programme had already been used.

A similar mode of action to the sulfonylureas – it was an ALS-inhibitor – meant it would not be able to be mixed or sequenced with others grassweed herbicides with the same mode of action, such as Atlantis (mesosulfuron-methyl + iodosulfuron-methyl-sodium).

As well as general grassweed activity the product also had activity on a number of broadleaved weeds, including speedwells, pansies, cranesbill, mayweeds and groundsel.