Grass treated with ProGrass, a new grassland herbicide from Corteva Agriscience, can be harvested a week later, making it ideal for pre-first cut treatments or for between cut applications when time is limited.

 With livestock farmers looking to maximise the amount of grass they feed their animals this year, making sure they harvest clean crops of grass without weeds will be a top priority.

 Docks are the main problem weed in silage ground, as they significantly reduce the dry matter yield of the more valuable grass, lower the nutritional feed value and hinder fermentation of the silage.

 ProGrass, is faster acting than most other available products and hits a much wider spectrum of undesirable weed species in established grassland.

 As well as docks, these include buttercup, dandelion, common nettle, cow parsley and common hogweed. It will kill clover, so if this is important, farmers should switch to using ProClova XL.

 "ProGrass is rapidly translocated to the roots of the weeds ensuring long term control and allowing a seven-day cutting interval," explains Ryan Came-Johnson, field technical manager for Corteva.

 "After first cut, it takes around three weeks for docks to regrow to a suitable stage for spraying, leaving just two weeks out of the usual target of five weeks between cuts, for the chemical to be applied, and for it to translocate to the roots. ProGrass is ideal for this timescale."

 ProGrass comes as a concentrated formulation with a dose rate of 1.5 litres/hectare (l/ha) compared to at least 2 l/ha for most other dock control products.

 "For the best results, docks must be free from disease or insect damage and not suffering from frost, drought, waterlogging or nutrient deficiency," says Ryan. "They should be actively growing, have fresh, green leaves and be almost dinner-plate sized. This will ensure the best results from spraying with ProGrass."