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DIRECTIONS FOR USE
NOTE: These Directions for Use form part of the Approved Product label and must be read before using the product. FIRESTORM is a contact and residual herbicide mixture for broad-leaved and annual grass weed control in winter wheat, spring wheat and winter barley. It may be used on all varieties of winter wheat, spring wheat and winter barley and can be applied pre or post-emergence of weeds and crop. Effective weed control requires that all surface trash and straw is buried during seedbed preparation and when applied preemergence of the crop the seed must be covered by at least 32mm of settled soil. After application the soil surface should remain undisturbed so do not harrow or roll and do not incorporate the herbicide. Loose or cloddy seedbeds must be consolidated otherwise crop damage may result due to inadequate seed cover. Other points to consider for safe and effective use include:
• Avoid treatment of crops suffering from stress caused by pest or disease attack, drought or water-logging, grazing, nutrient deficiency, compacted soils or any other factor that reduces crop growth.
• Do not treat crops grown on waterlogged soils or on soil prone to waterlogging.
• Do not treat undersown crops or those that will be undersown.
• Do not use on sands, very light soils (ADAS 85 classification) or on very stony or gravelly soils due to the risk of crop injury.
• Do not use on soils with more than 10% organic matter content.
• Do not treat broadcast seed or shallow drilled crops since the seed may be damaged.
If very wet weather or sharp frosts occur before or after application, some crops may suffer from a loss of vigour or colour, particularly on light free draining soils or where soils become waterlogged. These effects are usually transitory in nature and the final yield of the crop is not normally affected.

Timing

Winter wheat: Apply pre or post-emergence up to and including second tiller stage (GS22)
Winter barley: Apply pre or post-emergence up to and including third tiller stage (GS23).
For Spring wheat, a single application of 0.3L/ha may be made pre or postemergence, up to and including third true leaf stage (GS13).

Application

A dose of 0.3 L/ha or 0.6 L/ha FIRESTORM should be applied as a MEDIUM spray as defined by BCPC in a water volume of 200 – 400 L/ha. Avoid overlapping spray swaths. To prevent damage, care must be taken to avoid drift onto neighbouring crops.

RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT
FIRESTORM is classified as having the HRAC mode of action code ‘F1 + K3’. Weeds which are subject to repeated exposure to the same modes of action are at
risk of developing resistance to these herbicides. When devising a herbicide programme, incorporate herbicides with different modes of action within crop programmes and throughout crop rotations and, where possible, include physical methods of weed control. Strains of annual grasses (e.g. black-grass, wild oats and Italian rye-grass) have developed resistance to herbicides which may lead to poor control. A strategy for preventing and managing such resistance should be adopted. Guidelines have been produced by the Weed Resistance Action Group and copies are available from the HGCA, CPA, your distributor, crop adviser or product manufacturer. To reduce the risk of the development of resistance:
• Do not use as a stand-alone treatment for black-grass control but use in sequence or tank-mix with other herbicides that are effective against blackgrass and which work by a different mode of action.
• Consider your strategy across the whole rotation in treated fields and do not rely on FIRESTORM for grass or broad-leaved weed control in successive crops. Use effective herbicides with an alternative mode of action.
• Investigate any patches of poor control and if no obvious cause is apparent, consider appropriate resistance testing on surviving plants.

MIXING and SPRAYING
Shake the container well before use. Before spraying it is important to check all hoses, filters and nozzles, and to ensure that the sprayer is clean and correctly set to give an even application at the correct volume. Half fill the spray tank with clean water. Begin agitation and add the required quantity of FIRESTORM. Add the
remainder of the water and agitate the mixture thoroughly before and during spraying. Do not leave the sprayer standing for long periods when filled with the
spray solution. After use, wash out the sprayer thoroughly with a minimum of two rinses using a wetting agent or a proprietary tank cleaner.
FOLLOWING CROPS after normal harvest or crop failure Following a cereal crop treated with FIRESTORM the soil should be ploughed or cultivated to at least 15 cm before planting oilseed rape, field beans, carrots, onions, sugar beet, peas or edible Brassicae to disperse any residues throughout the soil. Wheat, barley and potatoes can be planted with no special cultivations. In the event of crop failure, the soil should be ploughed or cultivated to at least 15cm and only wheat, barley and potatoes can be sown. A period of at least 12 weeks should elapse after application before wheat or barley are sown. Where products containing diflufenican are applied to successive cereal crops, the level of diflufenican can build up in the soil. Ploughing with complete inversion in the
furrow is essential before any non-cereal crop other than potatoes is planted. Particularly sensitive crops such as onions, leeks, other alliums and clover may still suffer some damage from diflufenican residues. Where the land is to be rented out to growers of these crops it is advisable to avoid use of diflufenican for a few years before the field is hired out.