Safety in canola colour system

AN ADVISORY firm has developed a coloured tags system to label the four different herbicide tolerance groups in canola varieties.

Mike Stephens and Associates is producing the coloured tags to reduce the potential for costly mistakes when using herbicides on canola crops.

MS and A agronomist Andrew Daley said he was aware of cases where canola crops had been damaged or killed off through spraying the wrong chemical.

Mr Daley said mix-ups could happen if the farmer was using a number of varietal types.

He said if the farmer changed seed without recording it in the farm plan and employees or spray contractors later applied herbicides on the basis of what they thought was sown, thousands of dollars could be lost.

MS and A resorted to coloured cattle tags to solve the problem.

The company adopted the colour codes used by Pacific Seeds on their seed bags for their tags.

They were aligned to the respective colours of the seed developers.

Conventional canola has a blue tag, Clearfield canola green, purple for triazine-tolerant varieties and red for Roundup Ready canola.

Mr Daley said the coloured tags were printed with the herbicide tolerance and MS and A's logo, with farmer to write the year of sowing on the front and the variety on the back.

He said the tags were tied to the paddock gate with cable ties and should last a few years.

Agronomists or spray contractors could check the tags to confirm the variety sown before herbicides were applied.

"These tags cost about $1 but they could save $100,000 in lost earnings (if a spraying mistake was made)," Mr Daley said.

"And they are not going to take a farmer any time to put up."

The tags are also useful when considering chemical residues from certain herbicides.

MS and A uses a white tag for Clearfield wheat.

If Midas was used on the crop, the date on the back became important in the planning for next year's crop, as residue limited choices with the following season's planting.

MS and A had about 50 clients using the coloured tags this year but company principal Mike Stephens said he hoped the industry would adopt the system.