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Know How / Weed management

Find out about the main pest threats and how to control them in wheat, barley, oilseed rape, sugar beet and potato crops. Get advice on dealing with pests including flea beetle, TuYV, potato cyst nematode and slugs, how and when to apply insecticides and what a permanent neonicotinoid ban would mean.

Advice and tips

ARABLE

Tips on tackling this autumn's weed flush in OSR crops

Recent rain in many parts of the UK has provided a welcome boost for newly establishing oilseed rape crops, but it has also sparked a flush of weeds and cereal…

WEED MANAGEMENT

5 reasons why ryegrass is the UK's most difficult weed

The AHDB, Rothamsted Research and Niab all rank ryegrass as the UK’s number one weed.   Here, experts from Adas and BASF discuss what makes ryegrass so challenging and how to…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Controlling grassweeds in beans easier, but caution advised

While the recent introduction of aclonifen for beans has made weed grassweed control a little easier, caution is still needed to achieve effective control without causing any undue damage to…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Advice on sugar beet weed control for summer 2026

Good crop ground cover will be key to managing herbicide costs in sugar beet this year, after dry conditions affected weed control programmes in 2025. Sugar beet growers should have…

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Case studies

PULSES

How bicropping helps with weed control in pulses

Growing two crops in the same field at the same time has proved to be a valuable tool for managing weeds in pulses for one organic arable farmer. Matt England,…

CROP MANAGEMENT

Regen premium helps West Midlands family battle blackgrass

Regen premiums have given father and son James and Sam Daw the confidence to dedicate one-third of their cropping area to spring crops and tackle a growing grassweed problem. “It…

WEED MANAGEMENT

How a farmer is planning weed control without flufenacet

Oxfordshire wheat grower Ollie Stobo has been using new autumn herbicide Fundatis to control his “medium” levels of blackgrass and some troublesome broad-leaved weeds. He has trialled FMC’s product across…

WEED MANAGEMENT

How two farmers integrate strategic glyphosate in rotations

Use of glyphosate – the most widely applied herbicide in the UK – has surged over the past three decades. In recent years that increase has been driven by the…

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Insights

WEED MANAGEMENT

Nutsedge findings point to gap in invasive weed defences

Yellow nutsedge may still be a relatively unknown weed, but its appearance on a handful of farms is highlighting a much bigger problem: the UK has no coordinated system for…

BLACKGRASS

Three steps to better blackgrass control

Blackgrass control is moving underground, with a shift in focus towards creating crop root systems that will be highly competitive against those of the weed. Significant progress has been made…

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News

NEWS

Glyphosate GB licence renewal could roll over

A temporary extension of the licence for glyphosate use in GB is looking increasingly likely as the clock runs down on the current approval period, which expires on 15 December…

ARABLE

OSR growers gain new residual herbicide option

Oilseed rape growers have a new residual herbicide option, offering control of both grassweeds and broad-leaved weeds. The Chemicals Regulation Division at the HSE has approved Koban, which contains 600g/litre…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Tri-allate offers new hope in herbicide resistance battle

New research suggests that tri-allate could have a valuable role in managing herbicide resistance in grassweeds, due to its multisite mode of action. This discovery by researchers means the chemical…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Bayer secures landmark Roundup US court victory

A landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court has handed Bayer a major legal victory in the long-running litigation over its glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide. It is a decision that could…

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Test and reviews

New Defy 3D nozzle: Sprayer operators give their verdict

Agrochemical giant Syngenta has launched its new Defy 3D spray nozzle, which will provide growers with improved grassweed control and reduced spray drift. The new nozzle is an evolution of…

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Video

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Leicester farm trials weed seed unit on Fendt combine

Europe’s first Redekop seed control unit (SCU) fitted to a Fendt Ideal 10T combine, aimed at controlling weed seeds, is being put to the test this harvest in Leicestershire at…

WEED MANAGEMENT

Video: Mechanical hoes offer solution to herbicide resistance

As herbicides are withdrawn from the market, resistance builds and growers seek more sustainable weed management strategies, an increasing number of growers are turning to mechanical weed control. Andy Baggott,…

SUGAR BEET

Video: Robotti successfully drills and weeds 150ha of sugar beet

Autonomous Agri Solutions and Sentry farming have teamed up to use a fully autonomous robot to successfully drill and weed a 150ha area of sugar beet across Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.…

CEREALS

Cereals 2022: Watch the solar-powered FarmDroid in action

A fully autonomous, solar-powered robot capable of precision drilling and weeding was on display at Cereals this year. Using ultra-accurate GPS to record exactly where each seed is placed, the…

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Webinar

OILSEED RAPE

How to balance high inputs and market prospects for OSR

Although the price of oilseed rape has risen sharply largely due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so too have input costs such as fertiliser, fuel and energy costs. Therefore, oilseed rape growers…

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