Sugar beet growers urged to secure herbicides supplies

By Mike Evans

13 January 2012

Supplies of key sugar beet herbicides containing metamitron are likely to be tight in 2012, warns leading crop protection company Makhteshim Agan (MAUK).

Difficulties sourcing the ingredients for the manufacture of metamitron are creating a worldwide shortage and are set to have an impact on the availability and price of herbicides based on the widely used active ingredient, confirms the company.

Against this background, an expected price rise of at least 25% is an inevitable consequence of increased demand for metamitron, says marketing manager Lisa Hulshof, who urges growers to plan ahead and work out what their requirements are likely to be.

“Not only do they have to budget for any extra expense, they will also have to think carefully about where they need to use metamitron and how much product they are likely to use.”

Allocating stocks of the Goltix range of herbicides to meet requirements will be easier if growers have done this and talked to their distributors, she adds. “We will do our best to meet all the forecasts, so having this information in advance will be very helpful.”

Mrs Hulshof stresses that the metamitron supply situation goes beyond the UK. “It’s a global issue and it affects the whole metamitron market, not just individual products.”