Weeds

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,…

The Illinois Department of Agriculture recently issued a document containing guidance “to help pesticide dealers, commercial pesticide applicators and farmers understand the U.S. EPA order and the State of Illinois extension of the cut-off date for application.”  The document includes many frequently asked questions and how the Department interprets the guidelines from U.S. EPA for the continued use of existing stocks of these products whose registrations were vacated by a ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.…

On June 3, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling immediately vacating the registrations of Xtendimax, FeXapan and Engenia. The Ninth Circuit ruled that USEPA’s registrations of those products violated The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).  Pursuant to FIFRA, all pesticides sold, used, or distributed in the United States must be registered with the USEPA. Therefore, effective June 3, 2020, based on the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, Xtendimax,…

The recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to vacate the registrations of XtendiMax, Engenia and FeXapan has generated many questions about herbicide options to control weeds in dicamba-resistant soybean.  Tavium, a premixture of dicamba and S-metoachlor, remains in the marketplace and may be applied to dicamba-resisant soybean.  Keep in mind all restrictions with respect to application timing on the federal Tavium label (i.e., within 45 days of planting) and the Illinois 24 (c) label (i.e.,…

On June 3, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued their decision that effectively vacated the registrations of the dicamba-containing products XtendiMax, Engenia and FeXapan.  Since this ruling many questions have arisen, including the fate of these products already in the commercial channel.  During a recent conversation with officials at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, officials presented their interpretation of the court ruling as follows:
It is the current interpretation of the Illinois Department of Agriculture that the dicamba-containing products XtendiMax,…