Key Points
- Wild oats can have a very significant impact on yield in cereals
- One plant setting seed can result in about 40 viable seeds
- Shallow tillage with good herbicide control can rapidly deplete the weed seedbank but roguing is often required to totally eliminate the weed
- Herbicide control is economic from a yield perspective alone when the wild oat population is equal to or greater than two plants/m2
- Several herbicides are effective and they vary markedly in cost