If you farm/are an agronomist in Kent and would like to be in the draw for some free resistance testing in the Summer of 2025 you can fill out this survey here: Kent Grassweed Resistance survey
The Straits committee is a voluntary partnership between Kent County Council and neighbouring local authorities in France (Département du Pas-de-Calais, Département du Nord), Belgium (Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen, Provincie West-Vlaanderen) and the Netherlands (Provincie Zuid-Holland, Provincie Zeeland). This partnership helps to support organisations on either side of the channel to work together where it is useful to do so.
As part of the The Straits Committee Small Project Initiative, ADAS have teamed up with agricultural organisations in France (Chambre d'agriculture), Belgium (Inagro & UGent/HOGENT) and the Netherlands (AIKC Rusthoeve) following discussions that grassweeds and herbicide resistance were common problems in all of these regions.
An escalating issue across arable farming in Europe is herbicide resistance. This is defined as 'the inherited ability of a weed to survive a rate of herbicide that would normally kill it’. It impacts crop yield, increases costs for farmers, and limits crop rotation options. In particular, Black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides) and other grassweeds are highly problematic in the South-East UK and cereal growing coastal regions of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.
The project aims to
- Assess resistance to determine the extent of the problem in the Straits regions
- Foster ongoing collaboration among agricultural organisations working in these areas to help support growers
- Provide joint and cohesive guidelines to help growers manage resistance effectively, reduce ineffective use of herbicides and promote best use of non-chemical control as part of an integrated weed management (IWM) approach.
Updates will be made to this page as the project progresses, including survey links and results, guidelines, advice sheets, fact-files and more, so please do follow, like and comment on this page to keep updated!
This is the Grassweeds project, co-funded under the Straits Committee small project initiative by Kent County Council (UK), Provincie West-Vlaanderen (BE), Provincie-Oost-Vlaanderen (BE), Provincie Zeeland (NL), & Département du Pas-de-Calais (FR).
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ADAS provides ideas, specialist knowledge and solutions to secure our food and enhance the environment. We understand food production and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations operating in the natural environment
Herbicide resistance is the inherited ability of a weed to survive a rate of herbicide which would be lethal to a member of the normal population. It can develop over time based on repeated selection pressure imposed on the weed. This selection pressure changes the population from susceptible to resistant. Herbicide resistance is becoming an increasing problem in UK agriculture, in both grass weeds and broad-leaf weeds. See also the general topic on herbicides.
Grass weeds are a major challenge in UK agriculture and are often highly competitive in arable crops. Some of the most common grass weeds in the UK include: Black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides), Italian rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum), Brome (Bromus sp.), wild-oats (Avena sp.), Couch grass (Elytrigia repens), annual meadow grass (Poa annua) and Rat's-tail Fescue (Vulpia myuros). You can find specific topic pages for black-grass and brome. See also related topics of: broad-leaved weeds, herbicides, herbicide resistance and integrated weed management
Independent advice, tailored to farmers and horticulturists, tested and validated in practice. We conduct practice-oriented research in function of profitable innovations in West Flanders agriculture and horticulture.
If you farm or are an agronomist in Kent, you are invited to take part in a grassweed survey being conducted by ADAS and others. The survey will take ~10-15 minutes to complete Answers should relate specifically to the arable areas of farms located in Kent (even if the farm includes other types of land). For agronomists, each survey response should correspond to one holding only but multiple surveys can be completed. We are currently working on a cross-border project to understand the extent of arable grassweed resistance in Kent (UK), Flanders (Belgium), Zeeland (The Netherlands) and Pas-de-Calais (France). Your responses will help us to coordinate resistance testing and develop resistance management guidelines to help growers in these regions. As part of filling out this questionnaire you could win free grassweed resistance testing in the Summer/Autumn of 2025. There is a section on the survey to provide your preferred form of contact if you wish to be entered into the draw. All contact details will be kept confidential. In this survey, we will collect your location data by asking for the region of Kent in which your holding is. We do not collect any personal information, and the location data will be used only for general mapping purposes. If you are unsure of any questions or for general weed advice and ID queries, you can contact weeds@adas.co.uk This survey is part of the Grassweeds project co-funded under the Straits Committee small project initiative by Kent County Council, Provincie West-Vlaanderen, Provincie-Oost-Vlaanderen, Provincie Zeeland, & Département du Pas-de-Calais. Survey: https://forms.office.com/e/vFyS6QZgqN
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