The battle against blackgrass may soon get a little easier, as a new grassweed herbicide is a step closer to being used on British farms.

Agrochemicals group FMC has received GB registration from the Chemical Regulations Division (CRD) of the Health and Safety Executive for its new herbicide active ingredient bixlozone, which has the brand name Isoflex.

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It will bring a new mode-of-action to growers, which will help prevent weed resistance building up.

It is the second brand new mode-of-action herbicide for farmers in recent years, with BASF’s new blackgrass herbicide Luximo (cinmethylin) becoming available in autumn 2022.

Testing

John Hutton, FMC Northern Europe business director, says that over the past three years, the herbicide has been tested and trialled extensively with growers, distributors and industry bodies on key crops across Great Britain.

“Isoflex has demonstrated an ability to be a significant component of an integrated weed management programme and is expected to help growers manage herbicide resistance,” he says.

This new active has exhibited pre-plant, pre-emergence and early post-emergence selectivity in major crops across the globe, including cereals, potatoes, oilseed rape and pulses, he says.

Studies have shown that it offers effective control of challenging annual grass weeds and key broad-leaved weeds.

Herbicide products containing the active are still going through the CRD approval process.