2025 marks the 40-year anniversary of FMC's SU herbicides.
Cast your minds back to 1985, the first mobile phone calls were made in the UK and the iconic Live Aid concert was held at Wembley stadium raising millions of pounds in a global effort to combat famine in Ethiopia. The concert brought together musical legends including Queen, U2 and David Bowie.
The SU herbicides were first discovered by DuPont in 1985 and the range was then transferred to FMC in 2017 following the acquisition of part of DuPont's crop protection business.
Former colleague Adam Espir, who worked with the SU herbicides from inception recalls “Visualising the low dose of SUs in this manner really captured the imagination of farmers. Suddenly they didn’t have to mix, store or transport such large quantities of product anymore, yet the results were just as good.”
40 years on, the SU's are still proving to be a vital component in a grower's armoury for spring weed control, covering a wide spectrum of broadleaved weeds.
Steve Harrison, an independent agronomist, began his career in 1985 the same year Ally DF was launched. He remembers growers first reactions to the new chemistry “Like all technology usage practices have evolved, especially employing mixtures with other herbicide groups to combat resistance threats. First reaction from farmers was incredulity that such a tiny amount could be so active”.
Greg Taylor, an agronomist for Agrii with a wealth of SU herbicide knowledge explains how easy they are to use and to apply in conjunction with other products “A well-timed SU application in the tank mix is compatible and very efficient all in one pass" he explains.
SX® Formulation
FMC's SX® formulation was introduced in 2004 and offered growers increased efficiency with improvements to washout procedures. FMC's SX® formulation is formulated in a true solution rather than a suspension which means wash out procedures are more efficient.
Mathew Hutchings, senior commercial technical manager at FMC says, tests carried out with a 1,000-litre farm sprayer have shown sprayer washout with SX® formulation takes 30 minutes compared to two hours for non-SX® formulations, and uses less than 20% of the water required for non-SX® formulations. A considerable time saving.
FMC's SU herbicides have been a main stay for many growers across the country proving their reliability, flexibility and ease of use over the last four decades.
If you would like to find out more, contact your local Commercial Technical manager, or call the helpline on 01423 205011.
