New herbicides crack down on winter weeds

Corteva Agriscience says testing of four of its new herbicides at its research site at Breeza in northern New South Wales has shown the products can handle any weed scenario that may turn up this winter for cereal growers.

The new herbicides – Paradigm, Trezac, Pixxaro and Rexade Arylex – are based on Arylex active and are designed to give growers options when it comes to weed control and use patterns.

Corteva Agriscience Area Sales Leader and Technical Specialist, Ian Corr, said the Arylex-based range has been showcased at Corteva Agriscience’s facility at Breeza for the last few seasons and was used on a wide range of cereal and pasture species.

“We have options to get most of the spectrum you need, as well as having that selectivity and tank mixability to not cause issues in terms of compatibility and rotation,” Mr Corr said.

Paradigm to be a mainstay

Mr Corr said Paradigm is forming into a mainstay product due to its spectrum and selectivity.

“It has a fantastic spectrum. It has great crop safety, selectivity, and is really good in terms of mixability. The mix with MCPA LVE, in particular, has really exceeded expectations,” he said.

Mr Corr said in addition to cereal crop uses, its pasture registration makes it a great option for livestock producers.

“Paradigm targets the key weeds in pastures without having a detrimental impact on established ryegrass,” he said.

Paradigm can also control volunteer forage brassicas early in the ryegrass phase and provide the base for long-lasting pastures, he said.

“Controlling volunteers from brassicas, in previous crops, is really the key to success if you want a productive pasture that is going to last for a long time,” Mr Corr said.

Trezac Arylex

Trezac Arylex was launched in 2020 to replace the Hotshot herbicide and as an alternative for Metsulfuron-based tank mixes used in many situations in northern cropping regions.

“Hotshot had been the mainstay for buckwheat or bindweed control but with the registration for Trezac Arylex active, we see that standard being surpassed,” Mr Corr said.

He says Trezac offers flexibility in terms of mixing partners and mixing partner rates.

“For small Bindweed you can manage the rate of Starane down for six to eight leaf or for bolting bindweed you can still keep that rate up and get very robust control,” he said.

“Aminopyralid in Trezac brings the additional residual control, widens the weed spectrum and compliments Arylex on many weeds.”

When mixed with Tordon 242 it also provides another option for additional spectrum on Deadnettle and other weeds without the antagonism and the plantback limitation of Metsulfuron and other herbicides.

“There is very robust volunteer legume control and some good residual on Milk thistle, based on the Tordon 242,” Mr Corr said. “As we go further west, they are looking for more residual and we see Trezac fitting into those use patterns.”

Trezac is designed as a key mixing partner for the control of key weeds in wheat, durum or barley, in northern black soil cropping zones.

Pixxaro Arylex targets broadleaf weeds

Pixxaro Arylex is designed to control broadleaf weeds in wheat, barley, oats and triticale as well as knockdown control of broadleaf weeds, when mixed with glyphosate, in fallow situations.

Mr Corr said Pixxaro is particularly suited in fallow situations, as an alternative to Group B and G chemistries, for the control of marshmallow, sow or milk thistle, prickly lettuce, volunteer legumes and many other weeds in combination with glyphosate and other products.

“It is very soft on winter cereal crops controlling a range of problem weeds and has a short plantback period to canola, winter cereals and summer cereals,” he said.

Rexade Arylex

Rexade Arylex active herbicide is a selective herbicide for post-emergent control of grass and broadleaf weeds in triticale and conventional wheat.

With six grass weeds and twenty-four broadleaf weeds on the label and good compatibility with other products it offers a one-pass herbicide solution.

Rexade is useful for growers wanting to rest their Group A grass herbicides as wild oat resistance to those products increase in many areas.

It also has a flexible application timing and short plant-back period.

“With our Arylex range of Rexade, Paradigm, Pixarro and Trezac, we really feel like we’ve got all weed situations covered in the northern cereal market,” Mr Corr said.

If you enjoyed this feature on new herbicides, you might like to read our story on smart farms of the future.