Excellent ryegrass and bifora control with Overwatch® Herbicide

Overwatch® Herbicide has provided excellent weed control and a much-needed rotational option for agronomist Jake Rademacher, on the lower Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Mr Rademacher, from Grower Supplies at Warooka, said the region predominantly grew wheat and lentils, with some canola, barley and beans. The heavy reliance on two major crops has caused challenges with different weeds. “Ryegrass is still probably our number one enemy,” Mr Rademacher said. “We've got a lot of ryegrass resistance to the selective herbicides like clethodim in the legumes crops, and even some of the newer pre-emergents we've got in our cereal systems. “With a heavy lentil rotation, bifora has been quite a big problem. We haven't had too many herbicides that controls it adequately.” He said Overwatch® Herbicide had been in their trial program for three years before commercial release and allowed them to understand how it interacted with their soil types and conditions. “About four years ago, in the very first paddock we had it in, there was actually bifora in that paddock. Another agronomist said this looks like it's controlling bifora and I probably didn't believe it at the time but it absolutely does. We got very excited when we saw that bifora control for the first time." Last season was the first commercial year of Overwatch® Herbicide and the product was used by farmers in the region. “We weren't too bad in terms of our ryegrass control purely because we did use quite a bit of Overwatch® Herbicide in our wheat crops,” Mr Rademacher said. “It did what it was meant to do. With a dry start, some of the other pre-emergents on the market did not perform as well. In our local trials, Overwatch® was the best ryegrass performer."