One of the most overlooked yet critical factors in glyphosate performance is water quality.
With this in mind, De Sangosse have launched an industry guide explaining to growers the influence of water quality on the effectiveness of glyphosate and how it can increase glyphosate resistance development in weeds.
This guide – produced in association with John Cussans of ADAS – focuses on how and why water quality affects glyphosate efficacy, and offers practical, easy-to-implement advice to help you protect performance, reduce resistance risk, and preserve glyphosate for the future.
The new guide delivers clear, practical advice to help growers optimise glyphosate performance and ensure long-term sustainability through improved practice, with a strong focus on spray water quality.
At the heart of the guide is a detailed look at how glyphosate interacts with water in the spray tank. As a polar, water-soluble herbicide, glyphosate depends on clean, compatible water to remain in its active form, penetrate the leaf, and move effectively to growing points.
“Many UK farms use water that contains high levels of dissolved minerals like calcium, magnesium and iron – what we call hard water,” says Rhodri Morris, commercial director at De Sangosse. “These invisible ions can bind to glyphosate and reduce its availability to plants, leading to slower uptake, poorer control and increased risk of weed survivors.”
The guide emphasises that farmers must not rely solely on assumptions about water quality based on source. Instead, they should test the actual water quality used in the spray tank, not just the mains, borehole or rainwater supply. Stored and borehole water should always be considered high-risk for hardness unless proven otherwise, particularly when tanks are exposed to corrosion or contamination.
Keeping storage tanks clean, sealed and regularly inspected for metal corrosion is also advised.
To mitigate these risks, the guide highlights the use of water conditioners as a key part of glyphosate best practice. Conditioning spray water helps to neutralise hard water cations and preserve glyphosate activity in the tank.
For farms using high-risk sources, the regular use of a water conditioner is recommended as part of a consistent approach to maintaining performance, especially during stale seedbed or cover crop destruction operations.
“We want growers to take back control of an often overlooked variable – their spray water,” says Mr. Morris. “Testing, conditioning and good storage practice can dramatically improve glyphosate reliability. This guide brings together the chemistry, the agronomy and the practical steps farmers can take to make every applications count.
The guide is available here.
Related news:
