Dock control ahead of the first silage cut
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ProGrass™ is a new solution for 2025. It contains Arylex™, a new ingredient for use in grassland. This new product will give long-lasting control of a wide range of key broad-leaved weeds such as docks, nettles, buttercups, plantains and dandelions. It is also effective on tough-to-kill hogweed and cow parsley. It’s a fast-acting formulation with a label that supports a 7-day cutting interval when needed. This will help with making treatments between silage cuts more feasible.
It delivers ‘susceptible’ levels of dock control. This means a control level of between 85% and 100% when assessed at the end of the season on docks present at time of spraying. Leaf area, leaf health and active growth are key for optimal effect.
The following factors can limit the actual level of control achieved:
- Disease and pests – ramularia and dock beetles.
- Cold temperatures (below 6°C) and overly dry conditions: active growth is unlikely in such circumstances. Wait for weather to change and positive signs of active growth emergence.
- Spraying too soon after cutting - leaves are too small relative to the size of roots.
- Spraying docks that have started to flower, or docks with many older leaves that lack active growth.
- Too many docks may shade some, preventing targeting of spray. Shading by an excessive amount of grass will also have an effect.
Topping and spraying dock re-growth once it reaches optimal size improves the levels of control if these factors are present. This practice ensures all plants are at a similar size with leaves that are free from disease and dock beetle damage.
3* Drift reducing technology must be used when applying ProGrass
Air inclusion nozzles are the most likely solution for this. They reduce drift by creating larger droplets containing small bubbles of air. This coarser droplet enables the spray to travel accurately from nozzle to target. On impact, the coarse droplet bursts leaving smaller droplets across the leaf surface; this leads to less drift and more deposit of product onto the target leaf.
Travelling speed and water volume will determine the exact type of nozzle to use:
- ProGrass must be applied in 200 litres of water/hectare.
- Optimal travelling speed when spraying grassland is typically in the range of 8 to 10kph depending on field conditions.
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Clover-safe weed control for newly sown leys
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Where there is potential for a wide spectrum of broad-leaved weeds to emerge in newly sown leys this spring, consider a well-timed application of ProClova® XL, which has minimal effect on clover whilst controlling a wide range of key seedling weeds.
Chickweed, in particular, should not be allowed to swamp the young grass. When it dies away later in the year, it leaves bare patches of soil which quickly get colonised by other weeds, notably docks.
ProClova XL key information:
- Controls chickweed, broad-leaved dock, redshank, mayweed, bindweed and many more.
- Apply to newly sown leys from 3 true leaves of grass and 3 trifoliate leaves of the clover and between 1st April to 31st July.
- Only 7-day post-treatment stock exclusion interval*
- It works best with warmer temperatures. For optimum results, spray when overnight temperatures are forecast to be above 8°C for a period of 3 days before and 3 days after proposed application date. Lower temperatures can cause reduced efficacy/increased clover damage. Use the Temperature Check feature in the Best Practice section of the Forage App to help assess this.
*In absence of ragwort
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How weather factors might affect spring weed control in grassland
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Cold temperatures (below 6°C) and overly dry conditions can limit control. For optimum results, spray weeds whilst actively growing and, if possible, before they flower, or top them first and spray the regrowth after 2 weeks.
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Fields of yellow: dandelion and buttercups
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Dandelions and buttercups compete with grass for light, water, space, and nutrients. They need to be controlled to maximise grassland productivity.
Both plants have deeper rooting systems than grass and therefore nutrients are being taken up by the weeds and not the grass. Both weeds are significantly less nutritious and palatable than grass and are generally avoided by livestock. Where they grow – grass does not.
Where present in established grassland, use either ProGrass at 1.5 L/ha, Envy at 2.0 L/ha, or ProClova at 125 g/L with XL at 0.25 L/ha. All products can be used in both cutting and grazing situations, and none of them have any special manure management restrictions.
ProGrass: Fast-acting broad spectrum weed control.
Envy®: Better than straight fluroxypyr in fluctuating diurnal temperatures.
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Grazon Pro: what weeds will it control?
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Use Grazon® Pro when treating smaller areas via knapsack. It delivers excellent control of troublesome weeds such as docks, thistles, nettles, bramble, gorse and broom. Each pack comes with a free measuring cup!
Key label statements:
- Apply 60ml in 10L water. One pack makes up 16 x 10 litre knapsack fills.
- Apply between 1st March and 31st October.
- Handheld lance application only. Rainfast in 2 hours.
- Post-spraying stock exclusion of just 7 days (longer where poisonous weeds, such as ragwort, are present).
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Pioneer maize hybrid selection when sowing late
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Delayed planting due to wet or cold weather raises concerns about yield loss. Research shows the best planting window for maize is mid-April to mid-May, after which yields decline. On-farm trials indicate a decline of 75-100 kg of silage dry matter per hectare per day, though this can vary.
To minimise yield loss in late planting, especially in maritime climates, like the UK or Ireland, selecting early flowering hybrids such as P7179 and P7326 can help ensure full maturity despite delays.
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Helping your maize establish and reach its yield potential with BlueN
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BlueN™ is a nutrient efficiency biostimulant, containing Methylobacterium symbioticum, a bacteria found in nature, which fixes nitrogen from the air and provides it to the plant.
Apply BlueN at 0.333kg/ha in maize when the crop is between 4-8 leaves and is actively growing. Once established, BlueN will capture atmospheric nitrogen converting it into ammonium in the plant for the lifetime of the crop. Trials show that BlueN can deliver the equivalent of 30kg of applied nitrogen to the crop.
A recent field trial in Warwickshire highlighted the exceptional performance of BlueN when used on top of the grower’s standard fertiliser inputs, with fresh yield increasing by over 5T/ha and a significant dry matter increase of 2.81T/ha.
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5 split field trials on one Buckinghamshire farm in 2024 showed an average dry matter yield benefit of 2.09T/ha compared to the control area. Quality analysis showed that the two areas were relatively similar with a small increase in starch content from the BlueN treated areas.
To find out more about BlueN use on maize, click here to watch our short video.
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Planting maize after grass with LumiGEN insecticide seed treatment
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When planting maize after a grass crop, it's important to consider the potential presence of wireworms from the previous grass. Wireworms, the larvae of click beetles, can grow up to 25mm long and are orange-brown in colour. They have a narrow, segmented body, biting jaws, and three pairs of short legs just behind their head.
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Wireworm on the base of a maize stem.
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Risk factors:
- Fields that have been in leys for four years or more.
- Fields in all arable (no-grass) rotations.
- Porous, well-drained loam soils.
- South facing fields are more inclined to be infected than north facing fields.
- Minimum tillage supports higher wireworm populations than conventional tillage.
Background
Wireworms are the larvae of three species of click beetles: Agriotes lineatus, A. obscurus and A. sputator. The life cycle is typically five years, and it is the more mature larvae that cause the greatest crop damage. Symptoms will include non-emergence of seedlings, stunted plants, holes at the base of the maize stem as well as yellow and twisted leaves. The wireworms are easily found by digging up the soil. Pioneer offer LumiGEN® Insecticide Bird Repellent treatment on certain hybrids e.g. P7179 and P7326, which repels or eliminates all species of wireworm through diffusion from the seed into the soil and through contact.
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Choosing the right inoculant for your first cut grass silage
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1188: Ensures the best possible preservation in wetter grass (<25% dry matter) and low sugar situations because of the unique proprietary and complimentary bacterial strains it contains. These strains work in harmony to rapidly and efficiently lower the pH.
11G22: In addition to lowering the pH quickly, 11G22 is able to achieve aerobic stability from as soon as 7 days after sealing, weeks faster than when compared to non-Rapid React formulation Pioneer inoculants. This inoculant is also available in a special formulation for organic producers, simply ask for 11GG22 organic use when ordering.
11GFT: Triple mode of action; improves fermentation, aerobic stability and fibre digestibility. Incorporates patented microbial technology that leads to improved fibre digestibility due to the production of ferulate esterase enzymes.
11A44: Dramatically reduces heating in a wide range of high dry matter silages including high dry matter grass. Good choice where heating is a significant challenge due to high dry matter content, longer chop, summer or slow feed-out, or low compaction levels.
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Keep nitrogen where it's needed during maize establishment with Instinct
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When growing maize, it is worth considering adding Instinct®, a nitrogen stabiliser, when slurries, digestate, or other fertiliser applications are made to extend the nutrient availability to plants while they establish.
Instinct stabiliser has demonstrated reductions in nitrogen leaching of approximately 50% and denitrification through greenhouse gases of around 45% and means more nitrogen is kept where it is needed as maize crops develop.
Instinct utilises Corteva's unique Optinyte™ technology, keeping more nitrogen in the soil for longer periods, significantly improving use efficiency. The product works by slowing down the conversion of ammonium to nitrate, preventing nitrogen loss through leaching and denitrification, and ensuring more remains in the rooting zone.
Application is flexible – Instinct can be mixed into slurry or digestate before field application, or sprayed on shortly after. It's also compatible with any fertiliser containing ammonia, such as sludge, urea, UAN and ammonium nitrate.
For dairy farms specifically, Instinct offers significant advantages, particularly for maize crops which often face nitrogen limitations due to current regulations.
The timing of nitrogen availability is another crucial factor that Instinct addresses for maize growers.
"You don't need to necessarily change what you put on, Instinct just makes everything work better and more economically." Read more here.
Keeping more nitrogen in the soil for when it’s needed
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The chart above combines two data sets. The lines on the left illustrate the amount of ammonium recovered from soil, comparing Instinct stabilised versus unstabilised maize. This is overlaid on a chart depicting the cumulative nitrogen demand and its distribution.
Instinct keeps more nitrogen available in the root zone for longer, leading to optimised yield.
For more information visit the Instinct product page here or contact our hotline.
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Q: Where in the Forage App can I find the product labels and Best Practice Guidelines for ProGrass and ProClova XL?
A: For product labels go to 'Weed Control' then 'Products & Labels' and select the relevant product. For the Best Practice Guidelines go to 'Best Practice' and both guidelines will be available there.
Q: Should I be spraying docks given the current cold night temperatures and slow growth of docks?
A: No. Apply either Doxstar®Pro, ProGrass or Forefront®T when there is good, active growth and new green leaf material. If the cutting date for your first cut of silage is less than 21 days away (28 days for Doxstar Pro) from the intended application rate, then use ProGrass as this label supports a 7-day cutting interval.
Q: What can I use to control Yellow Rattle in grassland?
A: We would expect to see good control with Forefront T. Apply to grazing ground grazed by cattle and sheep only.
Q: I have a bad problem with buttercups. What can I spray and what is the subsequent re-seeding interval if I want to overseed?
A: Use Envy at 2.0 L/ha or ProGrass at 1.5 L/ha. The re-seeding intervals for grass are 4 weeks for both products. Control levels are still good control when they are flowering – perhaps 10% less than a pre-flowering treatment.
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For technical enquiries contact the hotline team using the contact details below. Or click here to find the contact details of your local area manager.
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