Farmers in east-central Alberta are reporting problems with the Bayer CropScience herbicide Buctril M.
Barry Halvorson, a custom sprayer from Provost, Alta., has compiled a list of 37 farmers who have complaints about the product. The group is talking about taking action against the chemical manufacturer, but doesn’t yet know how to proceed.
The farmers report that the herbicide initially appears to do its job, but a few weeks after application there is considerable regrowth of a wide variety of weeds.
“We’ve got one field that’s five weeks old now that’s just a horrendous mess,” Halvorson said.
Read Also
Alberta eases water access for riparian restoration
Alberta government removes requirement for temporary diversion licence to water plants up to 100 cubic metres per day for smaller riparian restoration projects
He has sprayed 4,000 acres of wheat, barley and oats with Buctril M this year. Halvorson said all 14 farmers he has worked for are seeing regrowth of weeds such as wild buckwheat, stinkweed and redroot pigweed.
It’s a similar pattern in each case. A few days after spraying, the weeds are brown and lying on the ground. As time progresses, the weeds develop green spots and then a few leaves. After a few weeks they’re in full bloom.
“They start growing again, just like you hadn’t been there,” Halvorson said.
Derrick Rozdeba, Bayer’s manager of integrated communications, said the company has received only one complaint about the herbicide’s performance and is investigating.
“I’m surprised, because this has not been a problem before.”
He said the complaint was lodged by Halvorson, who believes it is a chemical manufacturing problem.
“He thinks the formulation has changed and it has not changed,” Rozdeba said.
Bayer will conduct an investigation, but it’s too early to speculate on the source of the problem, he added.
“I have no idea what could be causing this,” he said.
“I’m puzzled, absolutely puzzled.”
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is investigating the same complaint. The federal government agency took samples of Buctril M from the Provost area and sent them to its lab in Ottawa.
Bill Brass, PMRA’s regional pesticide officer, said the lab will analyze the herbicide to see if it meets specifications.
Another Provost area producer said he also had disappointing results after spraying his wheat crop with the Bayer herbicide. He asked not to be identified because he is trying to work out a settlement with his local chemical supplier.
He used Buctril M at the full rate of 20 acres to a jug.
“It did a wonderful job. Ten days after, it looked like everything was dead,” he said.
But after two weeks, the tops of the weeds were “growing like hell.”
Saskatchewan Agriculture weed specialist Clark Brenzil said there have been no reports of problems with Buctril M across the border from Provost.
But from the symptoms described by the two Alberta farmers, he said it sounds like a problem with the systemic component of Buctril M.
The herbicide is made up of equal parts bromoxynil and MCPA ester. Bromoxynil is the ingredient that burns off leaf tissue on contact. MCPA ester is a systemic ingredient that knocks out growing points after the initial contact.
Brenzil said a number of environmental factors could be hampering the effectiveness of the MCPA ester. Lack of moisture, high heat and rain showers that occur right after application could be causing the problem reported in Alberta.
