As 2026 gets underway, growers are reminded not to overlook the importance of early-season weed control in spring cereals.
 

Despite a cold and wet start to the new year, residual herbicides were applied in warm, dry conditions last autumn, and are therefore likely to lose efficacy sooner than expected.
 
Mild weather following this application would also have encouraged the ongoing germination of both grassweeds and broad-leaved weeds.
 
With residual chemistry potentially running out of steam and weed emergence continuing, timely intervention will be critical. Weeds such as bromes, ryegrass, meadow grasses and broad-leaved weeds including cleavers and mayweeds should be controlled as early as possible to stop them from impacting crop performance.
 
Where residuals have not been applied, or where performance has been compromised by poor seedbeds or use on organic or lighter soil types, meadow grasses often dominate by spring. Annual meadow grass is the most common grassweed in the UK, with a wide emergence window and a rapid lifecycle that allows populations to build quickly.
 
"Annual meadow grass thrives in fertile soils and is encouraged by min-till practices," says Hugh Guinan, Cereal Herbicide Field Technical Manager for Corteva. "Less competitive than other grass weeds, it steals nitrogen from the soil and does increase the moisture content of the straw at harvest, which slows progress and affects quality.
 
"Populations can often be high in winter cereals because many lifecycles can occur within a relatively short space of time, typically six weeks."
 
To help tackle these challenges, Corteva Agriscience launched Broadway® Ultra in 2025. The product combines two of the most effective grassweed herbicides, pyroxsulam and mesosulfuron-methyl, enabling arable farmers to control a wide spectrum of grass and broad-leaved weeds in a single pass.
 
Broadway Ultra applied at 100g/ha delivers 14 grams of each active per ha, in an easy to use, wettable granule.
 
"Growers will know that pyroxsulam provides excellent grass and broad-leaved weed control, but there is also a synergistic effect with the mesosulfuron, which brings in control of chickweed, sow thistle, shepherd's purse and meadow grass," says Hugh. "Good control of rat's tail fescues has also been reported."
 
Getting the best results out of Broadway Ultra
 
Applications may be made in winter wheat and triticale from 1 January until the middle of May. Growers should use it at a rate of 100g/ha in combination with an approved adjuvant.
 
"It's quite a wide window of application, but we always advise growers to treat weeds early when they are small and actively growing," says Hugh. "These conditions can often occur in late January and early February, so growers need to be prepared ahead of the season."
 
On-farm use in 2025 demonstrated the benefits of this approach, removing grassweed competition early while also controlling a broad spectrum of broad-leaved weeds.
 
Hugh adds that the product delivers greatest value where residual programmes have been compromised, leaving higher levels of grass and broad-leaved weeds to tidy up in the spring.
 
With excellent crop safety and a long tank-mix compatibility list, Broadway Ultra offers spray operators the flexibility to apply alongside a wide range of ALS herbicides from both Corteva and other manufacturers.