March 28, 2024

As growing season changes, herbicide programs must adapt

FREEBURG, Ill. — Weeds like waterhemp and Palmer amaranth grab headlines and the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean broadleaf weeds have stopped their own march forward.

“We sometimes forget some of the basics of weed control,” said Phil Krieg, Syngenta agronomy service representative for southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana.

Krieg said a new refocus is needed on weeds that have continued to present problems for farmers.

“As waterhemp and Palmer amaranth march toward being more and more resistant to multiple sites of action, and we strengthen the weed control programs for those two weeds, what we are seeing are breakthroughs of things like fall panicum and some of these large-seeded broadleaves. We are going to have to adjust accordingly going forward,” Krieg said.

One major part of that adjustment plan is the corn herbicide Acuron®. Krieg has worked with Acuron since it was in trials, before it received EPA registration in 2015. Krieg said the four active ingredients in Acuron and the three effective sites of action in Group 5, Group 15 and Group 27 were impressive from the start.

“When we brought Acuron forward, the new, unique component was bicyclopyrone. The more we look at the bicyclopyrone, it’s a Group 27, it’s in the HPPD family, and put it into a lot of different applications, it’s been amazing to see how much it helps and complements everything else, all of the other sites of action in that premix. What we saw it do is bring us better and much improved large-seeded broadleaf control,” Krieg said.

In Krieg’s territory this year, corn was planted when it could be. Krieg said he sees earlier planting of corn and soybeans becoming the rule and not the exception — and that will affect herbicide programs.

“We started our season out with a lot of people planting soybeans first. Some of the corn was planted a little bit later in April. We had our normal struggles every once in a while with some rainy periods that delayed finishing up that corn planting, so it was a very stretched out season for us. There were many growers that had soybeans planted very early and finished up some of their corn typically when they might be finishing up or in the middle of planting soybeans, so we had a very long, stretched-out planting season,” Krieg said.

As we look ahead to next season, herbicide programs will have to be adjusted to fit growing seasons that last longer.

“It’s not as simple as I am going to plant and I am going to spray and everything is going to work just fine. It’s becoming more of a strategic plan — and a plan that has a lot of moving parts in it to really get good weed control season long. As we do more and more early planting, we have to adjust our herbicide programs to do a better job of lasting season long. We are trying to carry weed control now from very early in the planting season all the way through the growing season,” Krieg said.

Weeds also have growing seasons. Krieg is advising growers to evaluate fields this fall and take notes on where weed control was effective and where it wasn’t as effective. He also wants growers to be aware of when weeds germinate.

“When we think about weed control, it is very important that we think about when our problem weeds are going to emerge, so we can time our herbicide application and the active ingredients in products we are using in line with the germination of our key weeds,” Krieg said.

Krieg said Acuron fills the bill when it comes to a herbicide program that can last and also provide strong weed control throughout a longer growing season.

“We can come into so many different situations and so many different environments and provide not only the weed control that growers need for their early season weed control needs, but also through the season for later season weed control. It’s also the crop safety that stands out. I like to be able to use a product that is safe to my corn, that my corn can metabolize and not be damaged by and that is what we see with Acuron,” Krieg said.

Flexibility is another advantage of Acuron.

“I would call bicyclopyrone the active ingredient that changed everything to make a very complete herbicide premix. The advantage is we can recommend and use Acuron and we can put it into almost any program. It works well pre-emergent. We can do it in one or two pass-type programs. It works very well in our cover crop and our no-till programs. It is so versatile that it really doesn’t matter how you are farming, there is a way we can tailor Acuron to fit your needs and help you find more bushels,” Krieg said.

Learn more about Acuron at FindMoreBushels.com

© 2021 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some products may not be registered for sale or use in all state or counties. Please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Acuron is a Restricted Use Pesticide. Acuron® is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This column was contributed by Illinois AgriNews for Syngenta.

Jeannine Otto

Jeannine Otto

Field Editor