Resistance Fighter: Ask the Expert

Millions Spent in Hand-weeding Palmer Pigweed

Chuck Foresman — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:36:00 GMT

Glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed has become the most damaging weed we've seen to date on crops in the South. Researchers at the Southern Weed Science Society (SWSS) Meeting last week in Little Rock, Ark. reported 1.6 million acres of cotton and soybeans are currently affected by glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed. As a result, hand-weeding is one practice that has been reintroduced to try and help manage the problem.

At SWSS, Dr. Stanley Culpepper of the University of Georgia reported on results of a study they conducted on hand-weeding in cotton fields. More than 430,000 acres of cotton were hand-weeded this year - 54 percent of cotton acres in Georgia. Grower costs range from $3 to $100, averaging out at $26 per acre. That's a total of $11.4 million spent on hand-weeding just this past year.

Some of the cost is attributed to the physical removal of plants from the field. Unfortunately, producers have learned that just leaving cut Palmer pigweed plants lying in the field allows them to reestablish and continue to threaten crops.

The only hope of staying ahead of this economically devestating weed is scouting crops often and the use of pre-emergence residual herbicides. Syngenta recommends products like Envoke^®, Reflex^® and Sequence^® herbicides to control weeds early while they're still small. Scouting fields becomes essential to know that herbicide programs have been successful and to know the scope of weeds in a field.

To build an herbicide program specific to your fields and weed problems, visit the Resisance Fighter Solution Builder. You can also learn more about Palmer pigweed here:

Soybean: control of large Palmer pigweed Mississippi State University
University of Georgia Herbicide Programs for Controlling Moderate to Severe Populations of Glyphosate-Resistant Palmer Amaranth in 2010 Cotton University of Georgia
Researchers Find New Information on Palmer Pigweed Southeast Farm Press
Residuals Produce Reliable Results Delta Farm Press

Important: Always read and follow label instructions before buying or using Syngenta products. The instructions contain important conditions of sale, including limitations of warranty and remedy. Envoke®, Reflex®, Sequence® and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Reflex are not currently registered for sale or use in all states. Please check with your state or local extension service before buying or using these products. Reflex may be used on cotton in AL, AR, LA, MS, MO and TN in accordance with the Special Local Needs provisions of the EPA under a FIFRA Section 24(c) registration. You must have a copy of the approved 24(c) registration in your possession in order to use Reflex, and you must comply with all of the limitations for use set forth in the 24(c) registration.

Researchers Find New Information on Palmer Pigweed

Chuck Foresman — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:14:00 GMT

Recently, experts in the glyphosate arena discovered a new mechanism of resistance by which plants thwart herbicide applications.

Southeast Farm Press reported on these findings and its impact on the rapid spread of glyphosate-resistant Palmer pigweed. Pollen from pigweed plants can easily travel 300 to 400 feet in a cropping season. This explains why some growers may see a small patch of problem weeds one year and a field of resistant weeds the next.

What this means for producers is that it is even more important to diversify and attack weeds with several different tools. Rotating crops and herbicide modes of action are two of the most effective ways to combat resistance. Using a pre-emergence, residual herbicide helps employ another mode of action other than glyphosate and helps control weeds before they become established competition for crops.

Syngenta recommends using a product like Prefix® or Flexstar® GT herbicides in soybeans or Reflex®, Envoke® and Sequence® herbicides in cotton.

Palmer pigweed may be "the perfect weed" by some definitions, but staying ahead of the fight with a proactive management plan and a multi-pronged approach is one of the best tools a grower can employ.

Important: Always read and follow label instructions before buying or using Syngenta products. The instructions contain important conditions of sale, including limitations of warranty and remedy. Envoke®, Flexstar® GT, Prefix®, Reflex®, Sequence® and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Flexstar GT and Reflex are not currently registered for sale or use in all states. Please check with your state or local extension service before buying or using these products. Reflex may be used on cotton in AL, AR, LA, MS, MO and TN in accordance with the Special Local Needs provisions of the EPA under a FIFRA Section 24(c) registration. You must have a copy of the approved 24(c) registration in your possession in order to use Reflex, and you must comply with all of the limitations for use set forth in the 24(c) registration.

Residuals Produce Reliable Results

Chuck Foresman — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:12:00 GMT

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.

Cotton Season Starts with a Bang at Beltwide

Chuck Foresman — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:29:00 GMT

Though most cotton producers have just recently completed their 2009 harvest, things are beginning to ramp up for 2010. Cotton producers from across the U.S. descended on New Orleans to attend the 2010 Beltwide Cotton Conferences.

While many topics of interest were highlighted at the show, weed resistance proved to be a prominent theme throughout. During a roundtable discussion, several weed scientists gave recommendations and predicted where future resistance problems may arise.

Jason Bond, Mississippi State University weed scientist, discussed glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass in Mississippi and the need to utilize a fall burndown program for control due to control failure by spring glyphosate programs. According to Bond, both Dual Magnum^® and Command^® herbicides provided excellent residual control when applied in first two weeks of November. Though this troublesome weed is concentrated in Mississippi, suspected cases have been found in both northwest Tennessee and North Carolina. Over and over again, the panel reminded those in attendance of the importance of rotating chemistries and crops, and utilizing tillage when absolutely necessary.

Inside the Syngenta booth, show attendees played the Resistance Fighter "Whack-A-Weed" game. Game players had the chance to crush virtual weeds with giant yellow gloves while protecting valuable crops, as seen in the picture below.

The Resistance Fighter portfolio of pre-emergence residual herbicides including Reflex^®, Flexstar^® GT and Prefix^®, and burndown herbicides like Gramoxone Inteon^®, take down glyphosate-resistant weeds in producers’ fields while protecting valuable glyphosate technology. By participating in a booth drawing for a chance to win one of three Husqvarna^® 455 Rancher^® chainsaws, attendees were reminded that they could choose residuals to clean fields infested with glyphosate-resistant weeds like Palmer pigweed instead of resorting to chopping weeds by hand.

Attendees David Kerns of Lubbock, Texas, Kenneth Qualls of Lake City, Ark. and Dustin Mancebo of Dos Palos, Calif. each won a Husqvarna 455 Rancher chainsaw in the booth drawing.

To create customized solutions that fit your operation call your Syngenta rep or use the Solutions Builder at http://www.resistancefighter.com today.

Dual Magnum^®, Gramoxone Inteon^®, Prefix^®, Reflex^®, Resistance Fighter^TM and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Gramoxone Inteon is a Restricted Use Pesticide.

Command^® is a registered trademark of FMC Corporation. Husqvarna^® and Rancher^® are registered trademarks of Husqvarna AB.

Resolving to Use Residuals in 2010?

Chuck Foresman — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:10:00 GMT

As 2009 draws to a close, no doubt most of us have come up with a thing or two that we've resolved to improve for 2010. With that said, our hope is that your resolutions for 2010 include adjusting your weed management program to proactively fight resistance in your fields.

Whether you already have resistant weeds, suspect them, know they are present in your area or just have concerns that they may be coming soon, the time to act is now. Adding residual herbicides to your weed management program and alternating modes of action are both proven ways to minimize the risk of resistant weeds. It only takes a couple of seasons to go from one or two escaped weeds to the catastrophe below, so take the proactive measure necessary now to prevent this from happening in your fields.

Now is the time to investigate your options and build a solution that best fits your operation. Call your Syngenta Rep or check out the Solutions Builder today to build a customized Resistance Fighter^TM plan and start 2010 on the right foot.