Blackgrass control is all a numbers game and the best crop to manage the seed burden is spring barley – which means that the increasing number of farmers in Scotland who are experiencing this pernicious weed, have a ready-made cultural solution.

This is the overriding message to come out of six years of trials and research from Hutchinsons' Regional Technology Centre, at Brampton, according to its technical services leader, Matt Ward.

While it is an accepted fact that you get better black-grass control from a spring crop, it is important to look at which crop you are going to grow and how – with a focus on bringing down the black-grass population, he pointed out

“Although you get some control from a spring wheat crop as the black-grass plants are smaller and have less tillers, this can be reduced by as much as a half again with a spring barley crop, and it’s always a better option than a second wheat and without the risk of getting it wrong,” he said.

When deciding which strategy to adopt for controlling black-grass, Mr Ward advised against using the gross margin of the crop to make the decision about which spring crop to grow.

“This is flawed system as it does not take into account cash flow, additional field operations and cultivation costs or fixed costs. Nor does it take into account the risk of the crop not being viable and needing to be sprayed off."

“When the cost benefit of reduced black-grass is calculated, using data based upon work from Rothamsted Research, it’s clear that the ‘real’ margin from spring barley far outweighs that of spring wheat, and is substantially higher than that of a second wheat,” he argued.