AUSTRALIAN farmers will be the first in the world to get access to a new herbicide mode of action.
BASF this week announced it had received Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) approval for its herbicide Luximax, featuring the BASF-developed Luximo mode of action.
Luximo is from a class of chemistry known as the cineoles and works by the inhibition of fatty acid thioesterase (FAT), which irreversibly disrupts cell membranes and damages emerging plant tissue. In pre-emergence treatments, seedlings quickly become unable to survive and grow.
It will be used as pre-emergent control for ryegrass, Australia's main problem grass weed, and will be a valuable tool against populations of ryegrass with resistance to other herbicides.
The new product will provide up to 12 weeks residual control of ryegrass.
For classification purposes it is a Group Z herbicide and is registered for use in all wheat but durum.
BASF Australia New Zealand head of agricultural solutions Gavin Jackson was excited about the new product.
"It will be the first new mode of action for use against ryegrass in 30 years," Mr Jackson said.
He said BASF would have supplies available for growers to use in the autumn.
Mr Jackson said he expected growers to share the company's excitement about the product.
"Luximax will provide growers with new confidence about control of ryegrass for months after application," Mr Jackson said.
While the product will make its commercial debut many farmers have been keeping close tabs on it via a series of over 100 on-farm trials across Australia ahead of the launch.
"Ryegrass is our biggest issue and we are seeing it become more resistant," said Wimmera grower Rob Byrne.
"Weeds are incredibly smart, we have to keep them guessing and we rely on the companies to bring in new chemicals, if we kept relying on the same active ingedient it wouldn't do a different job.".
"We need a new chemical group will give us a few years without any resistance," he said.
Registrations in other countries are expected to follow, pending approval by the respective authorities.
Luximax is the first of three new BASF herbicides being launched in Australia by 2021.
The post-emergent herbicide Frequency and the pre-emergent herbicide Voraxor are also scheduled to hit the market soon.