Looking ahead to the autumn and establishing new crops is often time for a fresh approach and this season growers have the pressure of unprecedented market volatility causing much higher priced inputs, as they look to the most cost-effective options for profitable crop management.

Producing cost-effective crop protection products that provide growers with the tools they need to farm profitably, has always been the ethos of off-patent manufacturer, Life Scientific, says country manager for the UK and Ireland, Ruth Stanley – and that includes a new rate for its herbicide, Firestarter.

“We are delighted to announce that from this autumn, growers will be able to use a newly-approved dose rate of our grass and broad-leaved weed herbicide, Firestarter, in winter wheat and barley. This new dose rate allows for it to be used as a follow-up post emergence treatment at 0.3l/ha, in addition to its existing pre-emergence use of 0.6l/ha,” she said.

Firestarter is a herbicide for grass and broad leaved weed control containing 400g/l flufenacet and 100g/l diflufenican in line with its reference product, Liberator.

As with all of the products available from Life Scientific, Firestarter is produced through the unique process of reverse engineering – the ability to manufacture a product that is accepted as the same as that of the reference product by the regulatory authority.

Mrs Stanley explained that this latest approval broadens the choice for autumn weed control programmes and cost. “Firestarter can be used as a follow up treatment to Luximo, the new pre-emergence herbicide, as a cost-effective follow up, or can be used in an alternative product stack or on its own as both a pre and post-emergence treatment.

“However, it’s important to note that where Firestarter is applied twice in sequence and the total dose is 0.9l/ha, the first application must be made before GS14 of the crop, leaving a minimum interval of six weeks between applications,” she added.

It has also been approved for use in spring barley at 0.3l/ha at pre-emergence timing.

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* There's a new look for Life Scientific products from this autumn, with Firestarter being the first product to be released with the new labels –the rest of the range will follow the change to a system that is colour coded into product groups. Blue labels indicate a fungicide, green for herbicides, insecticides are red and other product groups, such as adjuvants or plant growth regulators, will have a purple label.