Understand your enemy
22.08.2018

Antony Pearce, Moat Farm, Stoke Mandeville
We probably have 3 difficult to control weeds in the farm:-
- Black-grass
- meadow brome
- mare’s tail.
They each require different methods of control. It is important to understand their biology, lifecycles and hence the best method of control.
Black-grass – we use multiple methods for black-grass; drainage, late drilling, Avadex (tri-allate) and spring cropping.
Meadow brome – we use sterile strips around fields to stop the combine spreading brome seed into the fields.
Mare’s tail – this remains a challenge; it’s resistant to glyphosate and spreads through rhizomes. Crop destruction and regular topping seems to slow invasion but it’s not the solution.