Temperamental spring weather can play havoc with weed and pest control. When applied alone, many glyphosate products require up to six rain-free hours to take effect.

​The addition of a high quality organo-silicone adjuvant will improve the reliability and effectiveness of the pesticide application. Adjuvants are defined as “any substance added to the spray tank that will improve the performance of the pesticide”. Simply put, adjuvants increase the reliability and effectiveness of applied pesticides.

There are a range of adjuvants for different situations, for example an organo-silicone adjuvant is recommended for Glyphosate. This helps the sprayed solution penetrate the waxy cuticle (outer layer) of the leaf, allowing the glyphosate easier access into the plant and increasing the effectiveness of the application.

The advantage of quicker and easier plant uptake of glyphosate is an increased effectiveness on some weeds and faster turnaround times between spraying and cultivation/direct drilling.

The addition of an organo-silicone adjuvant also reduces the rain-free period from six hours to two hours and reduces the time allowed between glyphosate applications and cultivation/grazing to one day for annual weeds and three days for perennial weeds. This rain-free period can be reduced even further by ensuring a high quality glyphosate is used, increasing reliability and flexibility of application timing.

In the standard 360g/L strength glyphosates there are around 640g/L of other ingredients that make up the one-litre product. The other ingredients include carriers (water), surfactants, anti-foam and solvents. The quality of these ingredients can change the characteristics and effectiveness of the glyphosate formulation.

That’s why Ravensdown has a unique New Zealand developed, patented and manufactured surfactant system, Surfmax-G®. Surfmax-G® is present in Ravensdown’s Glyphosate G360 and Glyphosate 540. If coupled with an organo-silicone adjuvant such as Ravensdown’s Accelerate, this reduces the rain-free period from two hours to only 20 minutes.

Ravensdown trials have shown the increase in plant uptake using the combination, with the addition of Accelerate will increase the glyphosate plant uptake by up to four times compared to not using Accelerate.