Farmer Focus: Daring to reduce herbicide use

Having dropped insecticide and limited fungicide use as much as I dare, I’m now looking to reduce herbicide as well.

If I grow crops with a known amount of companions, why not with a known amount of weeds?

It’s another part of understanding the context in which I use pesticides as part of a regenerative approach.

About the author

Anthony Becvar

Anthony Becvar is a third-generation farmer of an 80ha mixed farm in East Sussex on heavy Weald Clay. Crops include spring beans, winter wheat and spring barley, alongside diversification projects which include two breweries and an agricultural mechanic.

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The comb harrow I bought last winter has done a great job at keeping weeds at bay over the spring, but some persist, notably mayweed and redshank in places.

With buckwheat as a companion in the spring wheat, a broad-leaved weed herbicide was administered just as it finished flowering.

As it was a late application it has not killed off some weeds completely, so a choice has to be made as to what fields (if any) receive a dose of glyphosate pre-harvest.

I don’t usually do this, but I must remember the context within which I am using it; I haven’t sprayed glyphosate pre-drilling. I haven’t applied any pre-emergence herbicides, graminicides or insecticides.

I have used only one fungicide and one broad-leaved weed herbicide, and I’ll be selective about where I use it.

Happily, I think the area I will need to spray is small. To minimise any grain residue, we are ensuring we only spray when the grain reaches 25-30% moisture.

I’ll make additions to the mix to use as low a rate as possible.

Something that was very noticeable in studying a reduced herbicide approach is the power of crop competition.

Many of the Skylark plots (drill misses, I admit) have shown how growing a healthy crop can reduce the vast majority of weeds.

Using cover crops, catch crops and companions can also help. I’ll be trialling a mix of two companions in the winter oats this autumn, with buckwheat to help smother emerging autumn weeds.

Added to this will be winter linseed, which should help smother spring emerging weeds that stay beneath the growing oat crop.

There’s lots for pollinators to enjoy and a fantastic fibrous root system from the linseed to help soil.

I wish everyone a safe and hopeful harvest and raise a glass to an optimistic 2026 season.