The industry group that pressed for the bracken control herbicide Asulox to be granted a licence in the UK is being closed down.
Since 2013, the Bracken Control Group applied annually to the Health and Safety Executive for Asulox to be available on an emergency licence.
The herbicide was last approved for use in NI, Scotland and Wales in 2022 and the last season it was available in England was 2023.
Following that, the manufacturer of Asulox, UPL Europe, confirmed in late 2023 that it was no longer supporting re-licencing applications in the UK.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, the co-ordinator of the Bracken Control Group, Simon Thorp, said the group has “run out of road”.
“Against all expectations, we were able to maintain a supply of Asulox for a decade. This allowed the safe and effective large-scale control of bracken,” he said.
With Asulox now off the shelf, Thorp said physical methods of bracken control, such as mulching and rolling, are the main options left for managing the invasive weed.
“It’s very difficult. The basic advice is to attack it every which way. Get on to it as early as you can and keep going on. Don’t expect it to go away overnight,” Thorp said.
The aim is to stop the bracken plant storing energy in its extensive root network, known as rhizomes, and so repeated interventions should eventually lead to covers dying back. Thorp suggests that the exact method of intervention used is not overly important, as long as the bracken plant is physically damaged in the process.
“Anything that you do to bruise or bash the plant will take it in the right direction,” he maintained.
Simon Thorp from the Bracken Control Group (left).
Options
Mechanical methods that can be used on a tractor include mulching, topping, rolling and ploughing, although options can be limited on rough terrain.
Another method is trampling with cattle where supplementary feed is repeatedly offered in areas of dense bracken cover.
One chemical treatment that is still available for bracken control is weed wiping with a glyphosate-based herbicide.
“All these things work, but only if you are doing it thoroughly and consistently. You have got to keep at it,” Thorp said.
The industry group that pressed for the bracken control herbicide Asulox to be granted a licence in the UK is being closed down.
Since 2013, the Bracken Control Group applied annually to the Health and Safety Executive for Asulox to be available on an emergency licence.
The herbicide was last approved for use in NI, Scotland and Wales in 2022 and the last season it was available in England was 2023.
Following that, the manufacturer of Asulox, UPL Europe, confirmed in late 2023 that it was no longer supporting re-licencing applications in the UK.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, the co-ordinator of the Bracken Control Group, Simon Thorp, said the group has “run out of road”.
“Against all expectations, we were able to maintain a supply of Asulox for a decade. This allowed the safe and effective large-scale control of bracken,” he said.
With Asulox now off the shelf, Thorp said physical methods of bracken control, such as mulching and rolling, are the main options left for managing the invasive weed.
“It’s very difficult. The basic advice is to attack it every which way. Get on to it as early as you can and keep going on. Don’t expect it to go away overnight,” Thorp said.
The aim is to stop the bracken plant storing energy in its extensive root network, known as rhizomes, and so repeated interventions should eventually lead to covers dying back. Thorp suggests that the exact method of intervention used is not overly important, as long as the bracken plant is physically damaged in the process.
“Anything that you do to bruise or bash the plant will take it in the right direction,” he maintained.
Simon Thorp from the Bracken Control Group (left).
Options
Mechanical methods that can be used on a tractor include mulching, topping, rolling and ploughing, although options can be limited on rough terrain.
Another method is trampling with cattle where supplementary feed is repeatedly offered in areas of dense bracken cover.
One chemical treatment that is still available for bracken control is weed wiping with a glyphosate-based herbicide.
“All these things work, but only if you are doing it thoroughly and consistently. You have got to keep at it,” Thorp said.
SHARING OPTIONS