Keeping It Clean – How to Manage Crop Protection Products for Barley

By Mitchell Japp, MSc, PAg

Spraying season is already underway. As the season moves from in-crop herbicides and plant growth regulators (PGRs) to fungicides, take a few minutes to review the Keep it Clean 2022 Product Advisory. The product advisory is there to provide guidance on products that are registered for use in Canada, but may not yet have approval in key target markets or those markets may have a very low tolerance for residues.

Canada has a science-based pesticide registration system. Sometimes, markets that Canadian grain is marketed to may have opted for a lower tolerance in pesticide residues (a maximum residue limit or MRL) for various reasons. Regardless of the reason, this creates a potential marketing issue. In order to ensure Canada remains trusted as a high-quality source of grain, the Keep it Clean campaign was developed to communicate about products that may create marketing issues.

There are different product advisories, depending on what crop you are growing. Malt barley buyers sell into markets with lower tolerances than feed barley, so malt barley advisories are more cautious.

Generally, the Guide to Crop Protection indicates when marketing restrictions are in place for various products. Sometimes, the updates to the Keep it Clean Product Advisory may occur after the Guide to Crop Protection has been printed. It is particularly important to check the advisory and consult your grain buyer when considering a new product. The product label is specific to the registration status and may not include any industry advisories or marketing restrictions from using the product.

Barley has product advisories for fungicides, PGRs and pre-harvest weed control products: