Residuals Produce Reliable Results
In a recent article, "Old Technology Coming Out of the Closet," Elton Robinson of Delta Farm Press was able to catch up with some Mid-South producers who have seen good results with "old technology" in their battle against glyphosate resistance.
Like many producers in the Mid-South, Mississippi cotton and soybean producer Kenneth Hood has seen first-hand how glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed can devour a field. In 2009, glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed forced him to take extreme measures and plow under a portion his soybean acres.
As he looks ahead to 2010, Hood stresses to fellow producers the importance of timing. "Pigweeds turned completely brown, but in four days time, they started greening up and took off again. That's what you run into when your timing is off. Timing is the most important factor for controlling resistance. If you hit them when they're small, and you hit them hard enough, you can control them, "said Hood.
When applications are improperly timed, Palmer pigweed can survive and begin to sprout new growth as seen in the photo below.
Preplant and pre-emergence residual herbicides offer an alternative mode of action and the extended window of protection that producers need. For Hood, Prowl® and Dual Magnum® "worked perfectly" where he applied them on his cotton acres and he intends to extend those applications to additional acres for 2010.
Mississippi rice and soybean producer Nott Wheeler has also been on the front lines battling resistant Palmer pigweed. While his rotation of rice and soybean allows him to utilize different chemistries for weed control, he too has seen the importance of timing and adding residual herbicides to his arsenal. Initially, Palmer pigweed was emerging late in the season with little effect on his yields, but it didn't take long for that to change. "It doesn't take much of letting pigweed go before it will take over. It got to be a problem coming up in the spring and we couldn't do anything with it," said Wheeler. With the inclusion of residual herbicides in his soybean weed management strategy, Wheeler has been able to keep his fields clean. "We have put out Valor® and Prefix®, and that's helped a lot. We've used Flexstar® to get control early on."
As the success of Hood and Wheeler has shown, resistance can be managed by integrating residual herbicides into your weed control arsenal. Check out the Solutions Builder at http://www.resistancefighter.com to create a customized weed management plan.
Dual Magnum®, Flexstar®, Prefix® and the Syngenta® logo are registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.
Valor® is a registered trademark of Valent U.S.A. Corporation Agricultural Products. Prowl® is a registered trademark of BASF Ag Products.