Scottish farming and land organisations are calling on the Scottish government to urgently approve the chemical Asulox for bracken control.
Bracken, from the fern plant family, can reduce grazing area available for livestock and prevent effective livestock husbandry. For chemical control, two herbicides are recommended: Asulam (Asulox) and glyphosate.
Only asulam is approved for aerial application, which is what the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland, Scottish Land and Estates (SLE), Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), and the Bracken Control Group (BCG) are calling for.
“For Scotland’s farmers and landowners, aerial application is often the only option due to the scale of the area covered by bracken and the rocky or hilly terrain that makes access by equipment to carry out other forms of control difficult or impossible,” they said in a joint statement.
“While we acknowledge that the Emergency Authorisation (EA) process for Asulox is far from ideal, because of the lack of alternatives currently available and the tight timescales involved with the application being approved and aerial application permits issued, timely authorisation of Asulox is vital for the necessary control to be undertaken for this season.”
However, in a meeting of Scotland’s Parliament last week (Thursday, June 8), First Minister Humza Yousaf explained that the Scottish government presently does not have the power to grant this authorisation.
In response to a call for intervention on bracken control from Jim Fairlie, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, Yousaf said:
“As the UK’s regulator of pesticide products, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for assessing emergency authorisation applications on behalf of governments across the UK, including the Scottish government.
“We have considered, and we have promptly responded to, the HSE’s recommendations on the application for the use of Asulox during the 2023 season.
“As the application is for use across the entirety of the UK, it will be for the HSE to communicate its decision to the applicant, which it will do once the other governments across the UK have responded.
“NatureScot therefore cannot act until the applicant has been informed of the decision.”
The First Minister said that he would examine whether anything further can be done by the Scottish government.
“I place on the record that, if other governments across the UK could respond to the HSE, that might allow it to come to a prompt decision,” he added.
Long-term approach to bracken control
In their statement, the organisations added that they believe a more “consistent and strategic approach” should be taken for bracken control in the longer term.
This, they said, includes “the development of an improved stewardship approach that introduces effective controls to manage and monitor the use of the various bracken control techniques, including herbicides”.
“A greater emphasis would be placed on integrated pest management, with a view to reducing the use of herbicide except in cases where other control options are not possible,” they added.
“We would also like to express our disappointment that bracken control was removed from this year’s agri-environment scheme,” the organisations said.
“This has not only increased the risks of bracken as set out above, but also reverses the benefits of public money already spent. We urge the Scottish government to restore this option in future rounds of funding.”
