Get an Early Start on Weed Control by Using Pre-Emergence Residuals
Farmers have been telling us all winter long they want to get the earliest start possible on weed control in 2020. Gail Stratman with FMC says one of the best ways to do that is to use the strongest product possible pre-plant.
“In that scenario, we’re putting down Authority Edge or Authority Supreme, some of our good pre-emergence residuals and then looking at the days it takes to get to that magic four-inch height,” said Stratman. “Beyond that, post-emergence treatments can really struggle. What it showed us is that with some of our strong treatments like Authority Edge and Authority Supreme, we’re actually gaining a week in that window where we’re holding these weeds back longer than we are with some of the other competitive treatments. It really goes to show you that using the strongest products available can actually extend your window and allow you more opportunity to get the best weed control you can in that system.”
Some of the issues we faced in 2019 was not being able to get in the fields with the post-residual and before those weeds got above four inches.
“It all goes to using a sound, mean plan, getting that plan in place, but then having enough flexibility in that plan to be able to do what you need to do to account for weather like we had in 2019,” said Stratman.
Stratman says university trials are showing that the FMC approach can significantly reduce your weed seed bank problem in the fields.