Applying an ALS-inhibitor, such as Atlantis or Broadway Sunrise, at an early stage in the autumn before treating with residual herbicides could be a viable alternative strategy, Hutchinsons’ Dick Neale believes.

In trials, the sequence has given good results, when these products are applied at the one-leaf stage of the blackgrass and then followed up around 10 days later with a residual mix, he says.

“The theory is that you apply the contact material onto an undamaged, young blackgrass. It is a good way of making sure you are treating actively growing blackgrass and has given us control levels similar to where you apply true pre-emergence herbicides.”