Blackgrass in wheat crop

Black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides) is a major weed in winter sown cereals.

Black-grass is an annual grass-weed propagated by seeds, predominately (80%) germinating in the autumn. It is a competitive weed 12 plants/m2 resulting in a 5% yield loss in a wheat crop. Crop profit can be severely impacted by yield loss, herbicide spend and cultural control measures e.g. delayed sowing.

Black-grass has an increasing distribution throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and North America. Herbicide resistant populations are now found widespread across the UK.

Share here projects, experience, resources and best practice for dealing with black-grass.

 

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Integrated Pest Management highlights the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms. IPM is one of the tools for low-pesticide-input pest management, and IPM must now be implemented by all professional agchem users.

A weed can have many definitions, one being, any plant growing in a place it is not wanted. This topic focuses mainly on weeds affecting agriculture. Generally weeds are classified into two groups: grass-weeds (e.g Black-grass, Italian ryegrass, Bromes) and broad-leaved weeds (e.g Mayweed, Chickweed, Poppy, Cleavers). 

Herbicide resistance is the inherited ability of a weed to survive a rate of herbicide which would be lethal to a member of the normal population. It can develop over time based on repeated selection pressure imposed on the weed. This selection pressure changes the population from susceptible to resistant. Herbicide resistance is becoming an increasing problem in UK agriculture, in both grass weeds and broad-leaf weeds. See also the general topic on herbicides.

AHDB Guide published in 2018.

Grass weeds are a major challenge in UK agriculture and are often highly competitive in arable crops. Some of the most common grass weeds in the UK include: Black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides), Italian rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum), Brome (Bromus sp.), wild-oats (Avena sp.), Couch grass (Elytrigia repens), annual meadow grass (Poa annua) and Rat's-tail Fescue (Vulpia myuros). You can find specific topic pages for black-grass and brome. See also related topics of: broad-leaved weeds, herbicides, herbicide resistance and integrated weed management

The herbicide glyphosate was first registered in 1974 under the original trade name RoundUp (Monsanto) and has since become one of the most commonly used herbicides globally. It is a non-selective, post-emergent herbicide with a wide range of uses including arable, forestry, and horticulture.

Innovative Farmers are launching a new field lab exploring the use of poly cropping, inoculants and undersown cover crops to control blackgrass (BG) in spring and winter-sown crops.  

A new paper published by ADAS summarises evolving black-grass herbicide resistance over the last 35 years, including the effectiveness of the dwindling actives left, and the vital role of routine resistance testing.

Root structures and genetics give the weed an advantage over wheat and explain field patches.  

A trial site in Suffolk investigated a range of management techniques, including time of sowing f

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