AUSTRALIA— The world’s first herbicide-tolerant barley variety has been borne of a strategic partnership between Australian Grain Technologies (AGT), Sipcam and Albaugh, LLC, which was established to deliver the CoAXium® Production System for Australian broadacre barley growers.
In May, AGT announced a partnership with Albaugh LLC— the global leader in the production and sale of post-patent crop protection products, and Sipcam Australia— wholesale distribution of animal feeds, fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, and other farm supplies, to launch the CoAXium Barley Production System, involving Aggressor herbicide and tolerant barley varieties.
The system offers growers a new tool for control of tough annual grass weeds including brome grass, barley grass, wild oats, susceptible ryegrass, and ALS (Group 2) resistant weeds. It provides more crop rotation freedom due to lack of soil residue, offering an alternative to Clearfield technology.
AGT testing of this technology, discovered over a decade ago, has demonstrated excellent crop safety and performance across a range of environments. Aggressor herbicide applied according to the label will not result in residues in barley grain, thus no market access issues have been identified.
AGT head of science and business development Tristan Coram said the company was proud to bring this technology to Australian growers.
There is lot more to CoAXium than a non-GMO herbicide-tolerant barley variety. It’s a whole new production system that can change the entire cropping program
“We are especially happy that Australian barley growers will be the first in the world to take advantage of the benefits of CoAXium barley with Titan AX ,” Dr Coram said.
AGT barley breeder Paul Telfer said Titan AX was agronomically similar to Compass, and was particularly suited to low-to-medium rainfall zones, and Mallee-style environments where early vigour and longer straw were preferred, and lodging was less of an issue.
He adds: “However, our data suggests that Titan AX performs consistently well across a range of growing conditions and therefore should be a suitable option for all growers that see value in tolerance to Aggressor herbicide.”
Sipcam Australia Marketing and Operations Manager Richard Branson says the pending introduction of the CoAXium Production System for Barley has the potential to change how barley is grown in Australia.
“There is lot more to CoAXium than a non-GMO herbicide-tolerant barley variety,” he says. “It’s a whole new production system that can change the entire cropping program, which is why CoAXium will be fully supported by a stewardship program developed by Sipcam.” Titan AX is now available through AGT Affiliates and local retailers for the 2023 season.
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