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.