Crop Protection
VALOR BRINGS FLEXIBILIT Y TO WEED CONTROL Valor® 500 WG Herbicide used prior to planting both winter and summer crops offers outstanding flexibility and boosts efforts in combating resistant weeds. With the steady increase in herbicide resistance in mixed cropping areas and the need for more flexible weed control strategies, growers and their advisors have a highly flexible and effective tool at their disposal with Valor. Developed in Australia for our conditions by Sumitomo AgroSolutions, Valor herbicide: • c ontrols our key problem weeds including weeds resistant to other herbicides. • has short and flexible re-cropping intervals • may be used prior to both summer and winter crops Valor has become well known for its effective pre-emergence control of a broad range of problem weeds in the fallow period prior to planting summer crops. When used at these rates, Valor offers excellent longer-term control of problem weeds including Barnyard Grass, Feathertop Rhodes Grass, Fleabane and Milk Thistle, even against glyphosate resistant strains. Valor is also known for its ability to boost the knockdown weed control of non-selective herbicides including glyphosate and paraquat when used at lower ‘spike’ rates, and for providing excellent extended control of weeds at higher rates per hectare along irrigation channel banks and drainage ditches. Conserving soil moisture is critical at any time of the year. Using Valor to remove weed pressure in the period prior to sowing crops, while also offering safe, residual weed control well past the establishment phase of the emerging crop is a valuable option for growers. This value is especially evident when you consider the lack of any restrictive plantback periods and its strong fit within herbicide resistance management strategies. B&W Rural Moree Senior Agronomist Chris Maunder uses Valor Herbicide strategically at key times of the year to manage problem weeds as they germinate.
‘We can apply 210g/ha of Valor in late July or early August and prevent the emergence of fleabane and milk thistle well into our next crop - be that sorghum or maize or cotton and pigeon pea’, says Chris. ‘These rates give us excellent control in the peak germination periods for key weeds while we are busy with other operations like applying fungicides to our cereals or winter pulses.’ It also means key summer weeds are much more easily managed, particularly in minimum or zero tillage farming systems. ‘Feathertop Rhodes Grass is a massive issue for us in Northern NSW. Having Valor applied prior to summer crops or summer fallow and giving pre-emergence control as FTRG germinates from the first spring rain and beyond, is a very important tool for us,’ said Chris. FTRG is not overly susceptible to glyphosate, particularly after early tillering. This makes it tough to control in a minimum tillage environment and/or Roundup Ready Cotton systems which are of course heavily reliant on glyphosate. The fact that the purchasing of Valor is subsidised by the Roundup Ready Plus Program to encourage the use of herbicides with different modes of action is a testimony to how big a problem we face, how important it is to use every tool available to combat the problem and how effective a tool Valor can be. No delay is required between the application of Valor and planting for Soybeans, Faba Beans and Peanuts while other crops such as Cotton, Sorghum, Maize, Navy Beans, Field Peas and Chickpeas, only require a short plant-back period and just 15 mm of rain prior to planting. This is in stark contrast to some other residual weed control options which can literally tie-up farming country for years, and severely limit crop options until significant rainfall and lengthy time requirements have been met. For more information including a full list of re-cropping intervals required for summer and winter crop options visit www.sumitomo-chem.com.au/valor-500-wg-herbicide.
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