Better management of herbicides could protect their use in the future, a voluntary best practice campaign has said.
It comes as the Think Water initiative launches a new set of guidelines to provide farmers and spray operators with practical advice to prevent oilseed rape (OSR) herbicides entering water supplies.
The ‘OSR Herbicides? Think Water’ campaign is a voluntary stewardship scheme that was launched to build on existing good practice to protect water and avoid restrictions on products containing metazachlor, propyzamide, carbetamide, quinmerac and clopyralid.
The campaign is working with water companies and the crop protection industry to support farmers in continuing their responsible use of the herbicides.
Nigel Chadwick, operations director of the voluntary initiative, explains that OSR herbicides are “critical” to growing a successful crop and that any restrictions on their use could threaten the crop’s economic viability.
“It’s vital that stewardship steps are followed this season to help protect water and, as a result, the actives themselves,” he said.
He said that there are three practical steps farmers can take:
- Managing tramlines;
- Understanding risks in the field and employing appropriate buffer zones; and
- Abiding by product label conditions.
“This applies to everyone, but if land falls within a Drinking Water Safeguard Zone (DWSgZ), you need to take extra care,” he said.
Farmers can go online and enter their postcode to find out if you are in they are in one the designated zones.
“If your land is in one of these areas, speak to your local water company catchment officer or agronomist to establish the potential risk on a field-by-field basis.
“It then comes down to employing best practice agronomy and getting ahead of the season as much as possible, while using an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach all year round.
“Essentially if we work together to ensure these steps are followed, the risk of OSR herbicides entering drinking water will be reduced,” he added.
‘Think Water’ herbicide tips
- Manage tramlines, pathways and gateways to minimise compaction and reduce surface water run-off;
- Implement a six-metre vegetative buffer strip between OSR fields and surface water;
- Before making applications, always refer to product-specific labels;
- Water protection advice sheets can be found on the OSR Herbicides? Think Water website.
