Special Black-grass Management Clinic for CropTec

Agrii head of agronomy, Colin Lloyd who has run the Stow Longa programme since 2000 and trials manager, Steve Corbett will be manning the ‘Colin’s Corner’ clinic on Stand 120 to bring their wealth of practical understanding to bear on visitors’ particular black-grass problems.


"If our work has taught us one thing it’s that there are no simple solutions to bad black-grass,” stressed Mr Lloyd. “Instead, success depends on stacking the most appropriate cultural and chemical controls for the farm and season.” 

Over the years, Stow Longa research has identified more than a dozen important fundamentals of effective black-grass control, including:


  • Using a rotational plough in the right way at the right time;
  • Delaying wheat drilling until late October where possible;
  • Moving to spring drilling if autumn conditions prevent late drilling;
  • Employing two (or more) spring crops in a row, if necessary;
  • Using cover crops to improve the chances of decent late autumn or spring seedbeds;
  • Sowing the most competitive wheat varieties;
  • Moving as little soil as possible at drilling to wake up the least amount of weed seed;
  • Using barley rather than wheat for early autumn sowing;
  • Sowing the most competitive barley varieties;
  • Making the best use of glyphosate to eliminate weed flushes ahead of drilling;
  • Creating firm and fine seedbeds that give the best pre-em herbicide activity;
  • Stacking and sequencing residual pre-em and early post-em herbicides carefully; and,
  • Maintaining the best possible weed control in all cereal breaks.


Even the worst infestations can be overcome with the correct management,” Colin Lloyd pointed out. “But only if the right techniques are applied in combinations matched to the individual farm challenge with enough flexibility to suit the conditions and, above all, sufficient patience and persistence.”

“Through our CropTec clinic we are setting out to help as many visitors as we can with individual guidance from our extensive cultivation systems, variety competitiveness, cover cropping, rotational and herbicide application research,” Steve Corbett explained.

“By bringing our Stow Longa research to Peterborough in this personal way, we look forward to sharing its findings directly with even more growers than we can accommodate at our extended series of Huntingdon open days.”


Win 10ha of New Very High Yielding Spring Barley in Agrii Stand Competition

Visitors to the Agrii stand at CropTec will have the opportunity to win two tonnes of seed of new, very high yielding malting barley, Laureate for 2017 planting courtesy of Syngenta and MasterSeeds.

Yielding only fractionally behind RGT Planet in the latest five-year AHDB Recommended List trial data, Laureate has the advantage of being non-GN for the widest market suitability.

The Syngenta variety is being registered across Europe for the broadest market appeal and is currently under test by IBD for both brewing and malt distilling to give it significantly greater marketability than current malting standard, Propino. 

“As well as all the right quality and yield characteristics, Laureate has the highest untreated grain yield on the RL courtesy of its very strong across-the-board disease resistance as part of an excellent agronomic package,” noted Agrii national seeds manager, Barry Barker.

“The two tonnes of seed we are offering in our free-to-enter CropTec competition will be sufficient for just over 10 ha of planting at normal rates, making it a very attractive prize for anyone planning to grow spring barley in 2017.”

CropTec 2016

Visit Agrii on stand 120 at this year's CropTec event to discuss your Black-grass issues and also take part in their competition. 

We also have over 140 exhibitors at the event displaying the latest science and technology across the trade stands, while CropTec’s well established seminars and hubs will feature the latest thinking on a range of key arable topics delivered by leading specialists.


The event is free to attend for those visitors that pre-book their tickets. ALL visitors will be charged £15 on the day.

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