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Chemical confusion must end
Ian Fletcher in amongst bracken and heather
Bracken can be a menace but the chemical to control it is under scrutiny. Ian Rotherham explains the picture
There’s confusion over the use of the chemical spray Asulox or Asulam to control bracken.
Indeed some professional land management magazines and newsletters are suggesting that its use has been banned and it will no longer be available from this month.
This chemical is relatively benign to most plant life and for farmers, landowners and conservation managers, it’s the only effective large-scale treatment for tackling aggressively invading bracken.
Take it away and huge areas of land become unfarmable and of limited value for wildlife.
Don’t get me wrong, like all things, bracken in the right place can be very good for wildlife such as whinchats and adders, and even rare plants such as Adder’s-tongue fern.
But bracken infestation is a serious problem and can be associated with cancers and poisoning of livestock and other issues.
Despite the licence for the chemical’s use being withdrawn by the European Union, a compromise has been reached.
Bracken control expert and consultant Roderick Robinson says, “The situation is considerably better than it might be. UPL (United Phosphorus Ltd, manufacturers of asulam in India and suppliers of Asulox to the UK) have announced (via public written statements and their “bracken stakeholders group”’), that they intend to re-register Asulox for use on bracken in the UK.
“Whether UPL will succeed in this aim, will ultimately to be decided by the EU, and that remains to be seen. The compilation of a new registration dossier for Asulox will take until around 2017/18.”
It appears – and this is hugely important to all landowners and managers – that in the meantime all current stocks of Asulox must be sold by the end of this month and they need to be used by the end of next year.
From 2013 an annual series of EU emergency authorisations to permit the continued use of Asulox will be granted until Asulox is formally re-registered.
The EU is about to issue a new set of rules concerning the operation of these authorisations and the Chemicals Regulation Directorate is discussing how in the light of them bracken control programmes can continue here.
Another bonus is that the changes to the rules for pesticide use under the sustainable use directive will not now go to a second public consultation. This should speed up the revised operating standards which will permit the aerial spraying that is essential to bracken management.
If all this sounds bureaucratic and complicated, then yes it is!
More information is on the www.brackencontrol.co.uk website. Ian Rotherham, is co-author of Bracken and its Management published by STRI.
The trouble with bracken
A bracken control group is being set up under the auspices of the Heather Trust comprising specialists with non-commercial interests.
It will provide a single source of reliable information about the Asulam problem and other bracken control issues.
The exact workings of the authorisations are not yet known and will depend on the new EU rules.
Simon Thorp, director of the Heather Trust and coordinator of the control group, says, “The upshot for the 2012 season is that all users must order their Asulox now. If they delay, they will not get any.”
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Thursday 23 February 2012
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