Working with the authorities, the Bracken Control Group (BCG) has obtained an approval that will allow the use of Asulam, marketed by UPL as Asulox, to control bracken this year.
Control of bracken is important to maintain open land for grazing, and to avoid placing restrictions on the diversity of animals and plant species.
Also, the litter from old bracken plants provides an ideal breeding location for Sheep Ticks, which spread diseases that are a threat to humans, livestock and wildlife.
Working
with the authorities, the Bracken Control Group (BCG) has obtained an approval
that will allow the use of Asulam, marketed by UPL as Asulox, to control
bracken this year.
Control
of bracken is important to maintain open land for grazing, and to avoid placing
restrictions on the diversity of animals and plant species.
Also, the
litter from old bracken plants provides an ideal breeding location for Sheep
Ticks, which spread diseases that are a threat to humans, livestock and
wildlife.
Simon
Thorp, Coordinator of the BCG, stated that: “For chemical control, the use of Asulam
has been the preferred option, since it was introduced in the late 1960s. Asulam offers the unique properties of selective
control and approval for aerial application. These characteristics make it a very important
part of bracken control, especially for large areas, or in places where access
by ground-based machinery is difficult or impossible.”
Following
application to bracken fronds, Asulam is translocated into the root system (the
rhizomes), and reduces the number of buds that produce bracken fronds in the
following season. Strangely, Asulam has
no impact on the current year’s fronds.
Recently,
Asulam has only been available under the terms of annual Emergency
Authorisations, which have been granted for the whole of the UK by the
Chemicals Regulation Division of the Health & Safety Executive (CRD); with
support from UPL, the BCG has submitted the applications for the annual
approvals.
An
approval for restricted use of Asulam has been granted for the 2021 control
season. This allows application from 1st
July until 13th September, and to allow time for the disposal of
stocks, the approval to store and transfer the product does not expire until 31st
October.
The
Approval contains many terms and conditions, but the key restrictions for the
2021 season are:
·
Aerial
application of Asulam from a helicopter will be permitted subject to observing
a buffer zone to protect surface water bodies that is 90m wide.
·
Ground-based
application of Asulam will be allowed on land designated for conservation or
that is covered by an agri-environment scheme.
·
Livestock
must be removed from the area to be treated and must not return for one month.
The
full Authorisation document has been published on the BCG’s website. It is essential that anyone planning to apply
Asulam for bracken control during the coming control season reads and fully
understands all the terms and conditions.
Simon
added: “The Approval for the 2021 season is welcomed and CRD is thanked for
their continuing forbearance. The
approval has been granted later in the year than ideal, and this is putting
pressure on UPL to issue stocks to distributors quickly so that sales to land
managers can take place. There are
concerns that the late approval will cause a log jam in the approval process
for the aerial spraying permits, which may require input from the conservation
agencies. It is hoped that these delays
will not reduce the treated area significantly.
What is needed now is some good summer weather to allow all the planned
bracken control to take place”.
Notes:
1.
The Bracken Control Group
a. This independent Group was formed to work with
all organisations and people that have an interest in bracken control; it
considers all bracken control issues and techniques.
b. Simon Thorp, a consultant to The Heather Trust,
is the Coordinator of the Group.
c. The Group’s website has more detail: www.brackencontrol.co.uk
2.
Bracken Control Techniques – two categories
a. Physical – hand-pulling, cutting, rolling,
bruising, ploughing and trampling by animals.
b. Chemical – treatment with herbicide. Currently this is restricted to application
by helicopter. Application from a
vehicle-mounted sprayer, or using hand-held equipment, is effective when authorised. Asulam is the most effective product but the
use of other products is being investigated.
3.
Tick-borne diseases
a. These diseases affect humans, livestock and
wildlife.
b. Reducing the area of bracken is one method of
reducing the spread of these diseases.
c. Tick-borne encephalitis was identified in the
UK in 2019 and poses a serious threat to humans.
