Aaron Hager Email

Nearly all herbicide labels (soil-applied or postemergence) have rotational crop intervals that specify the amount of time that must elapse between herbicide application and planting a rotational crop.  This becomes particularly important with late-season herbicide applications, and when soil moisture is limited. Additionally, the labels of almost all postemergence soybean herbicides indicate a preharvest interval or a soybean developmental stage beyond which applications cannot be made.  Labels of some products may indicate both a developmental stage (before soybean bloom,…

The weed science program at the University of Illinois invites all weed management practitioners to our annual weed science field tour on Wednesday, June 23 at the Department of Crop Sciences field research location known as the Clem Farm, located at 1114 County Road 1200 East, Champaign. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the tour will start at 9:00 a.m. Preregistration is not required, but please let us know in advance if you will be bringing a large group of participants so we can plan accordingly for meals.…

The weed science program at the University of Illinois invites all weed management practitioners to our annual weed science field tour on Wednesday, June 23 at the Department of Crop Sciences field research location known as the Clem Farm, located at 1114 County Road 1200 East, Champaign. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the tour will start at 9:00 a.m. Preregistration is not required, but please let us know in advance if you will be bringing a large group of participants so we can plan accordingly for meals.…

Soil-residual herbicides are important components of integrated weed management programs. Labels of many single and multiple active ingredient products allow application before and after soybean emergence, but other active ingredients can cause severe soybean injury if applied to emerging soybean. In fields where a PRE herbicide application has been delayed and soybean are beginning to emerge, the following active ingredients (applied either alone or as a premix product) should not be applied:
sulfentrazone (many Authority-based products,…

The Illinois Department of Agriculture recently announced additional restrictions for dicamba applications to soybean. In addition to the requirements of the federally-approved labels, all use on soybean of pesticides containing dicamba in Illinois shall comply with the following requirements:
Temperature Restriction: A pesticide containing dicamba shall not be applied on soybean if the air temperature at the field at the time of application is over 85 degrees Fahrenheit or if the National Weather Service’s forecasted high temperature for the nearest available location for the day of application exceeds 85 degrees Fahrenheit.…

The 2021 Weed Control Guide for Ohio, Indiana and Illinois contains 236 pages of weed management information, including weed response ratings for corn and soybean herbicides.  Information and recommendations for managing weeds in small grains and forages are included, along with specific information about, and control recommendations for, several problem weed species.  The 2021 Weed Control Guide is available in pdf or print format and can be ordered at:
https://extensionpubs.osu.edu/search.php?search_query=789&section=product
 
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In late October 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) announced new five-year registrations for the dicamba-containing products XtendiMax, Engenia and Tavium.  These labels include new and/or additional application restrictions that were not included on previous labels.  Annual dicamba-specific training (which we hope begins soon) offered by the product registrants will undoubtedly cover many/all of the new label changes, but there are a few changes that some currently might not be aware of and might come as a bit of a surprise. …

“We are currently working with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to address reports of unsolicited shipments of seeds from foreign countries. Anyone who receives unordered seeds in the mail should contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture by emailing the following information to agr.seeds@Illinois.gov: First and Last Name, Phone Number and the number of packages received. Do not open the package, plant the seeds, or throw them out. Please keep all seeds unopened and with their original packaging and labels,…

Wheat harvest marks the end of one cropping cycle and the beginning of a second.  In parts of central and southern Illinois, farmers frequently opt to plant double-crop soybean following wheat harvest, with hopes that the first “killing” frost will be late enough to allow the soybean to reach maturity.  Wheat stubble fields not planted with a second crop often become populated with a “crop” of summer annual (and sometimes perennial) weed species.  Unlike double-crop soybean,…