Spring wheat weed control strategy

Beefsmith

Member
Thinking of swapping winter wheat for spring wheat here just to make life a bit easier in the autumn. But having never grown it and not asked the agronomist yet as I’d like a bit of knowledge, what is everybody doing weed control wise particularly for blackgrass and ryegrass?
Pre-em?
Emergence?
Etc etc?
 

HarryB97

Member
Mixed Farmer
Round up before drilling then direct drill into moisture so it gets away, I never bother with pre ems etc in the spring as it’s to dry. We grew it last year for the first time and it was also our first experience of Ergot, never again!
 

robbie

Member
BASIS
Black grass, round up pre drilling and prey, ryegrass, Broadway star which will do most BLW too.
I believe most of the usual BG Chems like Atlantis ect are approved for spring wheat but watch the label.
 

Flat 10

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Fen Edge
Drilled some ww end feb, pre-em and post em. Worst patches of BG on farm. Expected some but this was way worse than I thought. Neighbour drilled some spring wheat in March much worse for BG than spring barley drilled same time.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
Our spring wheat has had 35gms of finnish and 0.7 gal-gone for broad leaf weeds and that’s it herbicide wise but I have to say I’m going to chat with my agronomist next week about options for bg control next year as the past 2 years and only years of s wheat we haven’t applied any grass weed control last year was clean this year has got some bg in it annoyingly and a few wild oats but only a couple of patches. This is the worst bg below not at all bad but too much to go winter crop
36D95749-3218-4477-AC08-9B716D22C646.jpeg
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
I would choose spring wheat for several reasons. You get the same yield but it is worth more per tonne, cheaper Wild Oat Control, later harvest not clashing with WW, no volunteer problems in a wheat rotation, no brackling, and I am prepared to take the Ergot risk. We also struggle to keep N levels low but normally achieve 13% protein with too much effort.
 
Our spring wheat has had 35gms of finnish and 0.7 gal-gone for broad leaf weeds and that’s it herbicide wise but I have to say I’m going to chat with my agronomist next week about options for bg control next year as the past 2 years and only years of s wheat we haven’t applied any grass weed control last year was clean this year has got some bg in it annoyingly and a few wild oats but only a couple of patches. This is the worst bg below not at all bad but too much to go winter cropView attachment 971628

That is not a black grass problem. This may have come from your seed or something unrelated. I would not worry about the above.

I have used pre-em on spring wheat before, being Somerset it always rains sooner or later. It also lets me rest on my laurels for a bit in terms of BLWs as I don't need to rush out and put on BLW control until I'm ready with fungicides.
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
mine was round up off, axial for wild oats and a broad leaf. I am rouguing the black grass but there wasn;t much. The one thing i didn;t do was PGR as it suffered with the dry cold april and wet May and it is now getting crazy tall so i might regret that :banghead:
 
mine was round up off, axial for wild oats and a broad leaf. I am rouguing the black grass but there wasn;t much. The one thing i didn;t do was PGR as it suffered with the dry cold april and wet May and it is now getting crazy tall so i might regret that :banghead:

No PGR on spring wheat- you are a braver man than me!! Gets very very leggy and lush/thick. So bad you can't walk through it. Used to get mildew routinely each year.
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
No PGR on spring wheat- you are a braver man than me!! Gets very very leggy and lush/thick. So bad you can't walk through it. Used to get mildew routinely each year.

Its as clean as whistle, i just didn;t want to punish it with pgr as it seems to have been punished all the way through but its about waste height now so will see how it goes, ears are slightly smaller than winter wheat so it is what it is. The spring barley has had none but thats mostly knee high anyway
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
That is not a black grass problem. This may have come from your seed or something unrelated. I would not worry about the above.

I have used pre-em on spring wheat before, being Somerset it always rains sooner or later. It also lets me rest on my laurels for a bit in terms of BLWs as I don't need to rush out and put on BLW control until I'm ready with fungicides.
It’s only that way because I’ve got it under control but one bad desision and it will be a carpet. In this case yes it’s come from muck I’m pretty sure but I’ve got to put my muck somewhere so going before cover crop if possible
 
Its as clean as whistle, i just didn;t want to punish it with pgr as it seems to have been punished all the way through but its about waste height now so will see how it goes, ears are slightly smaller than winter wheat so it is what it is. The spring barley has had none but thats mostly knee high anyway

I know what you mean about punishing it but spring wheat and spring barley need to be treated like the bloody weeds they are as they can grow like fury in the right weather.
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Spring wheat is not good for blackgrass control but apart from that it’s okay. I would rather drill winter wheat in late October if the weather allows.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
Spring wheat is not good for blackgrass control but apart from that it’s okay. I would rather drill winter wheat in late October if the weather allows.
Yes it’s possibly the worst spring cereal for bg control but I still think it’s a hell of a lot better than late Oct drilled w wheat in my opinion but we have been drilling first week of April
 

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