Controlling blackgrass in sugar beet with CENTURION MAX

In our recent webinar on sugar beet herbicides (a must watch for any sugar beet grower), blackgrass was mentioned several times. Hardly surprising when you consider the challenges growers face in controlling it. All our expert panellists mentioned the problematic weed, and all discussed how to control it with one key product. CENTURION MAX (clethodim). So what do you need to know about this blackgrass treatment? What is CENTURION MAX? CENTURION MAX (clethodim) is a post-emergence graminicide for use in oilseed rape and sugar beet. Clethodim remains highly effective at controlling blackgrass and ryegrass, which differentiates it from other DIM herbicides such as cycloxydim, known to have blackgrass resistance issues. “In one of the most common blackgrass mutations (1781), clethodim gives good control whereas cycloxydim gives poor control,” says Dr Stephen Moss, independent consultant. As the sugar beet drilling season gets underway, many growers will turn to CENTURION MAX (clethodim) to overcome grassweed challenges. Good management strategies and effective stewardship are key. Ensuring the long-term future of CENTURION MAX At UPL, we’re committed to supporting sugar beet growers and ensuring the long term future of CENTURION MAX. That means effective stewardship, innovative product development and resistance monitoring, alongside key partnerships with organisations like British Sugar. “CENTURION MAX remains an integral part of the growers’ overall grass weed management strategy, providing an effective alternative mode of action in the grass weed battle,” says head of technical services at UPL, Stuart Jackson. “But to get the most out of it, you need to know what you’re dealing with.” At UPL, this means championing effective stewardship, and a genuine desire to keep it working by not using it too often. “That’s what we’re focused on promoting,” adds Stuart, including:

Ongoing resistance monitoring programmes
Regular field trials to inform growers of best applications
Key advice on application timing, application technique and use of water conditioner
Managed spray intervals between previous crop protection products

This is key, says Stuart, to “minimise risk from potential crop injury / phytotoxicity with other crop protection products, especially if these products have caused injury to the crop before the clethodim is applied.” Clethodim’s efficacy can also be boosted by using an acidic water conditioner, as noted by Rob Suckling in our sugar beet webinar. Dr. Moss concurs. “In earlier trials we did for Affinity Water we found the herbicide worked well, giving 80% control, regardless of water hardness. But the addition of acidic water conditioner, X-Change consistently improved the performance of clethodim, regardless of water hardness, increasing it to 90% control.” Key advice for using CENTURION MAX on sugar beet While the stewardship and application guidance remains unchanged with CENTURION MAX, it’s always important to remind sugar beet growers how best to use the product. Our essential advice includes:

Use a water conditioner to improve efficacy in hard water areas
Do not mix with adjuvants (CENTURION MAX has a built-in adjuvant)
Apply actively growing weeds
Implement a five-day no spray period for any herbicide before clethodim application
Implement a 14-day no spray period for herbicides post-clethodim application
Do not apply in cold weather

And our current best practice guidelines for CENTURION MAX are:

Apply at 1 litre/ha in a minimum of 200 litres of water to ensure good uptake
Use drift reducing nozzles and apply in best spraying conditions, with a suitable forward speed to ensure good coverage
Ensure blackgrass has reached three leaves and is actively growing. Best coverage of weeds is required for optimum efficacy
Minimise spray overlap to reduce risk of crop damage.

You can find out more about CENTURION MAX here.