Cereals 2026: Lincs farmer gives thumbs up to new herbicide

A Lincolnshire grower has given a new-mode-of-action herbicide the thumbs up and says it will be a key part of his wheat herbicide programme this autumn.

Last summer, Fundatis gained approval for use in winter wheat and winter barley. The herbicide contains the active ingredients beflubutamid and bixlozone.

See also: Winter wheat and barley growers to benefit from new mode of action herbicide

Bixlozone, which is marketed as Isoflex, is a new-mode-of-action herbicide from the isoxazolidine family, discovered and developed by the FMC.

Its partner, beflubutamid, is from the same herbicide family as diflufenican and is new for cereals in the UK.

Speaking at the Cereals event, FMC head of marketing Geoffrey Bastard said it outperformed expectations in the field in its first season.

“Normally, when you launch a herbicide, it tends to perform a bit less in the field than in trial plots, but we saw the opposite,” he said.

Agronomists and farmers had seen good results, including in the dry conditions last autumn, he added.

One example is Mark Stubbs, who farms 700ha near Louth on the Lincolnshire Wolds.

He has trialled Fundatis over the past two season, including a full field tramline comparison last season with both cheaper and more expensive programmes.

He reported that it effectively killed blackgrass and showed better longevity over the season, still having effects on spring germinating blackgrass.

There was less spring germinating blackgrass and what did emerge was only 2in tall while in untreated areas it was 4-6in tall. In addition, he saw benefits on ryegrass.

Italian ryegrass is a new emerging problem on his farm and Fundatis is allowing him to use cheaper post-emergence products to target it in the following spring. 

Looking ahead to this autumn, his plan is to use it pre-emergence in his wheats and is still considering his post-emergence options.

FMC product manager Hazel Blanshard added that it had good activity on broad-leaved weeds such as grounsel, cranesbill and speedwell – with a total of 21 on the label. She said extra weeds would be added in the future.