UK wheat growers will have a new post-emergence herbicide at their disposal next spring to tackle a wide range of problem grassweeds and broad-leaved weeds, including meadowgrass.

Broadway Ultra from Corteva Agriscience builds on the success of its Broadway Star herbicide, which has been a mainstay of early-season weed control for 14 years.

The company has combined pyroxsulam and mesosulfuron in the new Broadway Ultra formulation, offering arable farmers the ability to control an extensive spectrum of weeds in a single pass.

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“Broadway Star has a well-earned reputation as reliable, proven chemistry, but with our new Broadway Ultra product the addition of mesosulfuron brings meadowgrass control into farmers’ hands too,” said Alister McRobbie, cereal herbicides category manager.

Corteva believes growers with traditional rotations and on lighter land – where meadowgrass and broad-leaved weeds are the key issue – will benefit the most from this innovation.

It will be an effective product where there are mixed populations of grassweeds too.

Other weeds on the product label include brome, ryegrass, tame oats, wild oats and loose silky bent as well as difficult broad-leaved weeds such as cleavers, speedwells, mayweed, charlock, bur chervil and volunteer oilseed rape.

Trials conducted by Corteva demonstrate the same level of control of ryegrass, meadow brome and annual meadow brome as mesosulfuron (and iodosulfuron)-containing herbicides.

Alister added that the same “act early” principles around application timing should be followed.

“Getting on top of key problem weeds early is as important as it ever was, and the challenging autumns we have had in recent years often shifts the pressure for weed control to the spring,” he said.

Broadway Ultra can be applied from 1 January to mid May, but cannot be used in the autumn.

It can be safely tank mixed with, or followed by, Zypar (florasulam + halauxifen) and has a broad range of acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor herbicide joint applications on the label.

The company says the wettable granule should be applied with an adjuvant at a rate of 100g/ha and comes in a 500g pack. A 5m reducible buffer zone applies.