Wheat growers in the UK will be able to use a new herbicide next spring to tackle a wide range of grass and broad-leaved weeds.
Corteva Agriscience's Broadway Ultra builds on the success of Broadway Star which has been a mainstay of early-season weed control for 14 years.
The manufacturer has combined pyroxsulam and mesosulfuron-methyl in the new Broadway Ultra formulation, offering farmers the ability to control an extensive spectrum of weeds in a single pass.
Alister McRobbie, herbicides category manager said: “[For] our new Broadway Ultra product, the addition of mesosulfuron brings meadow grass control into farmers’ hands too.
“We see this as a significant evolution. We now have two of the most effective post-emergence grass weed active ingredients in a single formulation.
"This should be something of real value to growers at the start of spring herbicide campaigns.”
Excellent levels of annual meadow grass control will be an important feature of the new product in the UK market, but exceptional levels of ryegrass and other problematic weeds are also retained.
Corteva says it expects growers with traditional rotations and on lighter land – where meadow grass and broad-leaved weeds are the key issue – to benefit the most from this innovation.
It will be an effective product where there are mixed populations of grass weeds too, according to the firm.
Broadway Ultra’s label weeds also include brome, ryegrass, tame oats, wild oats and loose silky bent as well as difficult broad-leaved weeds such as cleavers, speedwells, mayweed, charlock, bur chervil and volunteer oilseed rape.
Trials conducted by Corteva demonstrate the same level of control of ryegrass, meadow brome and annual meadow brome as mesosulfuron- and iodosulfuron-containing herbicides.
Mr McRobbie added that the same “act early” principles around application timing should be followed.
“Getting on top of key problem weeds early is as important as it ever was, and the challenging autumns we have had in recent years often shifts the pressure for weed control to the spring,” he said.
“Broadway Ultra can be applied from 1 January right the way through to the middle of May, but cannot be used in the autumn.
"It can be safely tank mixed with – or followed by – Zypar and has a broad range of ALS joint applications on the label, including combinations with Corteva ALS herbicides and those of other manufacturers.”
