Asulox for Bracken Control 2022


It has taken longer than hoped for, but we have an emergency authorisation (EA) to use Asulox for bracken control in 2022.  Full details are on the Bracken Control Group's website.

With the application period starting on 1st July, the industry is having to move fast to get the product distributed and the aerial spray permits in place to allow the helicopters to fly.

Within the EA application for this year, which I submitted on behalf of the Bracken Control Group, I included a request for the application process to be reviewed.  After 10 years of submitting applications, it is is difficult to come up with additional information each year to justify a further approval, and since submitting the first application for the 2013 season, much has changed; perhaps the most significant factors have been leaving Europe and the increasing concerns about the endocrine disruptor (see note below) status of pesticides, including asulam.

The brinkmanship and uncertainty surrounding the approval process is doing nobody any favours.  It places an increasing workload on the authorities and government agencies and it restricts the funding of research, and investment in the products and the application techniques.  The only winner is bracken.

I accept that there is a strong argument against introducing pesticides into the environment, but we need to balance this against the threats associated with bracken.  An international research paper will be published this year that will add additional emphasis on the risk associated with exudates from bracken, principally Ptaquiloside, which pose a threat to water supplies.  These risks were first identified in 1965.  Are we ready to allow bracken to grow and expand its cover, without being able to control it effectively?

Research is continuing into different products and control techniques and bracken control should not be seen as only being possible using Asulox.  More flexibility to employ a range of control techniques is most likely to increase the effectiveness of the control effort.

I very much hope that we can use a review of bracken control this year to produce a control strategy of sorts that will balance risk with benefit in a holistic manner.


Note: The endocrine system is important for human and animal health because it regulates and controls the release of hormones.  Endocrine Disruptors are substances that can cause adverse effects through interaction or interference with normal hormonal action.

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