Pete McKnight, Technical Specialist Agronomy at PGG Wrightson says lucerne should be sprayed before spring regrowth reduces the first cut.

“Things shut down over winter,” he says. 

“We’ve got temperate growing plants such as lucerne and clover – they enjoy growing in the heat of summer, so in winter they move into their dormant phase.

“If they’re not actively growing, they don’t take up as much chemical.”

He says this time of the year, from about mid-June through to about mid-July is the optimum window for lucerne spraying.

“We don’t like frosts on our lucerne when we’re spraying them, so if there is a heavy frost around, we certainly want to make sure the frosts are off the plant, because we are using burners, and part of using a burner is sticking the chemical to the plant.”

For clover-based pastures, the three forms of 2,4-D is the go-to. 

“The most commonly known one out there will be 2,4-D ester, as it’s known, but we have 2,4-D amine as well, which is basically just a softer version.”

In the PGW range, the 2,4-D ester formulation is sold as Dynamite, while the amine

formulation is sold as Clean Spray.

“Of course, as we soften the blow, we do get less clover damage, but then at the same time we get less effective weed control.”

He says 2,4-D will not touch chickweed, hydrocotyle, cleavers or grass weeds, and label rates for the ester range from 1.7 to three litres.

In lucerne, paraquat is tank-mixed with longer-acting partners. 

“They are generally quite strong residual products, they lie on the bare ground, on the soil surface, and stop further weeds from coming through.”

On its own, paraquat is fast-acting but a poor translocator. 

“Anything with a deep taproot has energy stored in the root, so if you just burn the top off it with paraquat, that plant will grow back through.” 

Docks and nodding thistles fall into that category.

“My suggestion is to get in touch with your representative now and get a plan made for the next couple of weeks to get it onto your lucerne.”

If you’re planning your winter spray programme or want advice on protecting your clover and lucerne this season, talk to your local PGG Wrightson Technical Field Representative or visit your nearest PGG Wrightson store. You can find your local team at store.pggwrightson.co.nz 

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