Using an effective pre-emergence programme to achieve good weed control in early drilled wheats will be vital this season to ease the pressure on Atlantis treatments.

The trend in recent years of cold winters followed by a spring drought has prompted many to drill their wheats as early as possible, says Bob Mills, technical manager for Frontier Agriculture.

“Although early drilling usually means better wheat performance, it also means relying more on the pre-emergence treatment to rid the crop of competition,” he says.

“In addition, ADAS are reporting high blackgrass dormancy, which means a longer more protracted germination period, so use of the most robust residual has become even more vital.”

He advises using a flufenacet-based product, such as Crystal (flufenacet + pendimethalin) or Liberator (flufenacet + diflufenican)applied at pre-emergence for the best results.

“A robust dose of Crystal mixed with at least 100g/litre of diflufenican will give an excellent start to the weed control programme, offering three different actives into the residual stack.”

That should be followed up later in the autumn by Atlantis (iodosulfuron + mesosulfuron) mixed with a residual, such as Galivor (pendimethalin + picolinafen).

“This way you are applying a range of different active ingredients to the weeds and this gives you a better chance of effective control.”

Mr Mills prefers applying Atlantis in the autumn when blackgrass weeds are smaller. “Once the spring arrives, weeds are often too large for control.”