Chemicals group vows to push for new licence for bracken-control herbicide

Hill farmers faced with the loss of the only effective herbicide to control bracken have been informed that an application for temporary National Emergency Authorisation will be made to allow the use of Asulam until another product comes along or the existing usage is permitted through regulatory channels.

Without that clearance, estimates have been made that bracken will continue to spread across the hills of Scotland, with one estimate being a 50 per cent increase in its acreage.

At a meeting last week of the Bracken Control Group, which includes NFU Scotland, United Phosphorus – the licence holder for the main product, with the trade name Asulox – restated its commitment to investing in further trials and data collection to try and get EU clearance as a bracken control herbicide.

In 2011, Asulam was banned across the EU, principally because of concerns over its use on spinach. The herbicide is currently in a “use-up period”, which expires on 31 December, 2012. After that time, all unused stock must have been returned to the manufacturer or destroyed by an authorised company.

Getting the necessary permission to use it in the future on bracken will be a very lengthy process, according to the NFU.