Wild oats in winter barley

10 March 1999

Wild oats in winter barley

Question

WHAT herbicide would be most suitable for controlling wild oats in winter barley this spring? No herbicide was applied in autumn.

Rob King, Herbicides Marketing Manager, Cyanamid Agriculture

Answer

In answer to your question, “What herbicide would be most suitable for
controlling wild oats in winter barley this spring? No herbicide was applied in
autumn,” may I offer the following advice?

Wild-oats are particularly pernicious – just one plant per square metre is
enough to rob a crop of 4% of its yield, so early, efficient control is vital.

Many farmers will be faced with wild-oat problems this spring. The wet autumn
left growers unable to reach their fields post-drilling, with the result that
about half the autumn-drilled area was deprived of its standard autumn residual.

We therefore started 1999 with a backlog in the weed control programme, which
the continued wet weather has only served to intensify. In these circumstances
prioritisation is paramount, and top of the list must come an assessment of
wild-oat populations.

Treat the fields with the greatest weed burdens first to avoid yield penalties,
making application a priority before the crop reaches stem extension stage.
Commando (flamprop-m-isopropyl), at 3l/ha, can safely be applied to barley until
the “awns visible” stage (GS49) and, because it has a different mode of action
to the fops and dims, it may be of use when devising anti-resistance strategies.

As well as controlling wild-oats, Commando will give a useful reduction of
aerial growth in black-grass and rough meadow-grass, reducing the viability of
any seed produced.

Rob King, Herbicides Marketing Manager, Cyanamid Agriculture