Chemical control of brome grasses ( Bromus spp) in cereals

Abstract

Ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus) prairie grass (B willdenowii) and soft brome (B hordeaceus) are becoming serious weed problems in arable farms of New Zealand This paper reports results from three years of field experiments evaluating chemical treatments for brome control in cereal crops Ripgut brome was shown to be very competitive with moderate infestations reducing grain yields by 2530 A strong relationship (R2096) was found between seedling numbers of ripgut brome and final grain yield The study found several promising chemical treatments that offer a good degree of control These include preemergence applications of cyanazine terbuthylazine chlorsulfuron terbuthylazine and metribuzin The same herbicides applied postemergence were not as effective for brome grass control