Cereals to get a sharpen up

Sharpen^®, the most powerful and fast-acting Group G herbicide, has recieved registration for reduction of wild radish seed set and viability of weed seeds in wheat, barley and triticale from the early milky dough crop stage.

“This new registration for Sharpen will give farmers up to 90 percent reduction of wild radish seed-set in cereals. This is a great outcome for the industry with the registration completed in time for the season,” said Stuart McLaverty BASF Portfolio Manager Broadacre Australia and New Zealand.

“The effective mode of action of Sharpen means that we’re now able to provide farmers with an earlier application window prior to harvest than any of the current options registered for this use,” McLaverty added.

Compared to the options registered for reduction of wild radish seed set in cereals Sharpen provides the following benefits:

• A new mode of action for late‑season weed seed management
• An earlier and more optimal pre‑harvest application window
• Up to 90% reduction of wild radish seed-set
• Rapid reduction of green trash to improve harvest efficiency
• Less resistance pressure on glyphosate

Gavin Heard, Head of Development & Regulatory Affairs Crop Protection Australia and New Zealand explains BASF has been trialing the new use pattern across key areas of Australia, experiencing impressive results particularly in Western Australia where wild radish has been a persistent issue late season in many cereal crops.

“Sharpen is the only herbicide registered for this use pattern that can be applied as early as crop growth stage 71 (early milky dough). It’s early enough to burn off most wild radish flowers, but late enough to sterilise up to 90% of seed in green pods,” Heard explained.

“We know how important it is to understand the pain points of our customers and create solutions for specific problems we continue to see out in fields – Sharpen now solves this issue in the late cycle of growth of barley, triticale and wheat,” he added.

The new registration further extends the use of Sharpen right through the season, which is also registered for use as a harvest aid in pulse crops, pre-fallow broadleaf weed knockdown and fallow maintenance, pre-sowing knockdown of key broadleaf weeds and in-crop broadleaf weed control in established Lucerne.