OSPREY™ 4.5 WDG Herbicide from Bayer CropScience has been registered by the California Department of Pesticide Registration for postemergence control of Italian ryegrass, Hood and littleseed canarygrass and wild oats, as well as suppression of bromus species including ripgut brome, in wheat sown in the fall that grows throughout the winter months.

“OSPREY is going to be a great new management tool for us,” says Alan Freese, who grows about 2,000 acres of wheat near Birds Landing, Cal. “We’re excited that we’ll have the first postemergence product with any activity against ripgut brome. Before now, we’ve had to delay planting in non-irrigated wheat so we could burn down or till out the ripgut brome. With OSPREY we should be able to plant early then spray—and that will help us increase yield and spend less money. In irrigated wheat where ryegrass and canarygrass are problems, OSPREY will give us good control with more crop rotation options.”

“OSPREY will provide a level of control and flexibility California wheat growers have been looking for,” says Dave Feist, product manager with Bayer CropScience. “It controls or suppresses a wide range of common grass and broadleaf weeds and there’s excellent flexibility in tank-mix partners, variety selection and crop rotation.”

OSPREY combines a new active ingredient called mesosulfuron-methyl and a highly effective safener. At use rates of up to 4.75 ounces per acre, OSPREY herbicide controls Italian ryegrass and wild oats, including ACC-ase resistant species, as well as Persian darnel, annual and roughstalk bluegrass, Hood and littleseed canarygrass, blackgrass, windgrass, wild mustard, wild radish and volunteer canola. It also suppresses downy, soft and ripgut brome, hairy chess, henbit, common chickweed and redroot pigweed.

For best results in California, OSPREY should be applied in the fall from emergence up to the jointing stage when weeds are actively growing. OSPREY must be applied with a high quality spray adjuvant based on specific local recommendations available from your local pest control advisor.

OSPREY may also be tankmixed with commonly used broadleaf herbicides, for one-pass control. Commercially available winter wheat varieties tested in university and on-farm trials exhibit good tolerance to OSPREY.

Wheat may be replanted seven days after OSPREY is applied while barley and sunflowers may be planted 30 days after application. Soybeans, cotton, rice, lentils, dry beans, peas and peanuts may be planted just 90 days after OSPREY is applied. Corn may be planted 12 months after application. All other crops may be planted after ten months.

Mesosulfuron is part of a new generation of sulfonylurea chemistry developed by Bayer CropScience. The new product met rigorous criteria for Reduced Risk status. As a result, the federal Environmental Protection Agency accelerated its review of OSPREY to expedite its federal registration which came in April 2004.

“OSPREY herbicide is just one of several new products Bayer CropScience is developing for cereal growers,” Feist says. “We are one of the few remaining manufacturers investing in new products for cereal growers.  With a strong commitment to working with local crop protection retailers, supported by our experienced team of Cereal Experts in the field, Bayer CropScience will be helping growers produce profitable cereal crops for years to come.”

For more information about OSPREY and other Bayer CropScience products, contact your local pest control advisor or Bayer CropScience representative.  You may also visit www.bayercropwest.com  or call 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937).

Bayer CropScience LP is the U.S. business of Bayer CropScience, which has its global headquarters in Monheim, Germany. Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.8 billion is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology.  The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications.  Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries, ensuring proximity to dealers and consumers.