Last season’s extremely wet weather meant that pre-emergence weed control wasn’t applied with some growers expressing the need for a new answer to halt the spring emergence of some broad leaf weeds (BLW).
Adam Espir, commercial technical manager at FMC, explains following this increased demand from growers and agronomists, FMC has launched a new carfentrazone product, Aurora, to support the suppression of BLW, particularly ivy leaf speedwell, cleavers and bur chervil, to fill the gap in the market.
“What became apparent in autumn 2019 was that when growers couldn’t get pre-em residuals on, weeds were appearing that would normally be controlled. Growers were in touch looking for other options, but if you look at the autumn herbicide market there are only about five actives and quite a limited number of products they can use,” he says.
This new addition of Aurora adds a new mode of action (MOA) to the herbicide armoury which will also reduce the risk of resistance build-up.
“As an agronomist’s tool, this product is exceedingly flexible as it can be used with residual herbicides where BLW are present in both the autumn and spring. It can also be tank mixed with a wide range of products, including insecticides.
“It’s a contact acting herbicide which works very well against small weeds, but good coverage is important. To get the most out of this product, water volume is crucial so I would recommend at least 200 litres per hectare, while ensuring weeds are still at the two-leaf stage, will deliver the best results,” says Adam.
“With unpredictable wet weather a regular occurrence for the sector to deal with, it is very useful for agronomists to know that if growers inadvertently miss the window to apply their pre-ems and have to rely on early post-em herbicides, they now have the security of Aurora.
“With the addition of Aurora, growers and agronomists now have more choice and solutions to allow them the flexibility to successfully control weeds,” says Adam.
