The decision by the European Commission to ban the use of the winter cereal herbicide Isoproturon, better known as IPU, comes into effect at the end of this month. It sees the range of herbicides available to tillage farmers to control weeds in winter crops reduce further. The removal of IPU serves to further highlight the extent to which tillage farmers are constrained by EU regulations while at the same time being expected to compete in a global market. And this is happening across the full range of plant protection products.