cropCENTRAL | Field Crop Production Resources

Proper application stewardship of dicamba in dicamba-resistant soybean increases the likelihood of good weed control while concomitantly decreasing the potential for off-target herbicide movement.  The labels of two commercially available dicamba formulations approved for application in dicamba-resistant soybean (Engenia from BASF and XtendiMax from Monsanto) include many application guidelines and restrictions that all applicators must follow.  The Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) recently published a helpful checklist of “do’s and don’ts” for applying dicamba in dicamba-resistant soybean. …

The long-awaited label allowing dicamba use in dicamba-resistant soybean was granted November 9, 2016, by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), although only one commercial product received that label.  Many Illinois farmers anticipate this technology will provide a much-needed solution to challenges caused by weed populations resistant to herbicides from multiple site-of-action groups and other difficult-to-control species.  Without question, there are instances and scenarios in which dicamba will improve control of certain weed species, but dicamba will not bring back the “good ol’ days” of POST-only weed control programs in soybean. …

Herbicides applied in the fall often can provide improved control of many winter annual weed species compared with similar applications made in the spring.  Marestail is one example of a weed species that is often better controlled with herbicides applied in the fall compared with the spring.  An increasing frequency of marestail populations in Illinois are resistant to glyphosate, and recently we confirmed resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides also is present in Illinois populations.  Targeting emerged marestail with higher application rates of products such as 2,4-D in the fall almost always results in better control at planting compared with targeting overwintered and often larger plants with lower rates of 2,4-D in the spring.…