Farmer Focus: Nightmare weeds as herbicides struggle
Neil MacLeod © Angus Findlay Sulfonylurea herbicides have struggled this spring, with very poor control of mayweed, chickweed and groundsel which initially appeared to have died. They then seemed to find a new lease of life, albeit with a somewhat twisted appearance.
These weeds can be a nightmare for the combine and grain-drier operators, so we’ve had to spend a bit of money with an additional herbicide, infuriatingly having to be applied alone so as not to heat up the flag-leaf spray.
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Although sulfonylurea resistance has been suggested, I’m not so sure, as our spring-applied glyphosate on overwintered stubbles prior to cover crop establishment wasn’t Âeffective either, which must be down to the cold temperatures.Â
The cooler period has kept the brakes on overwintered Sitka, which need to be held back as much as possible to remain a marketable size for harvest this winter.
One method of achieving this is to pass a tractor-mounted blade through the ground to chop the roots and minimise fresh growth. It’s simple and effective, but nerve-racking for the operator.
This spring has seen an incredibly long flowering period in the oilseed rape, which will undoubtedly create challenges in terms of glyphosate timing and harvest readiness.
Our “winter crop only” policy has protected us from fuel price rises. However, like everyone, we are feeling the effects of new crop fertiliser markets.
As someone who always purchases early, I have been somewhat more reserved having covered autumn P and K requirements prior to the Middle East conflict and, more recently, booked enough liquid nitrogen and sulphur just to fill our tanks.
Like many, I will wait to see how the markets develop, but at least with a significant tonnage of our 2027 crops sold, budgeting – albeit painful – is achievable.
