You have bumped up your marketing plan. You have stepped up your seed selection. You have climbed up with a new planter. So it is time to go the next step with new weed control program with some of the 2008 chemistry that will be available in the Cornbelt. Grab a pencil to make some notes on weed control programs to discuss with your supplier.

The Extension weed specialists have been busy evaluating a host of new products and thanks to the staff at Purdue and their weed science update, we have some ideas that might solve some of your problem weed spots this spring.

A new burndown product for either corn or bean fields is Rage D-Tech from FMC, which is a premix of Aim and 2,4-D that has activity on broadleaves such as lambsquarters, marestail and ragweed.

A new product for weed control in corn is Halex GT that is a mix of glyphosate, Dual magnum, and Callisto. Syngenta is marketing it for an early post emergent production for glyphosate resistant corn that will have some residual control for grasses and broadleaves. It will control 2-4 inch weeds, or larger ones with a blend of atrazine.

Laudis is a new corn herbicide from Bayer CropSciences to be used in either Roundup or Liberty Link systems, and works on weeds similar to Callisto, but has more activity on grasses. It can be tank mixed with atrazine, Liberty or glyphosate and Purdue says it has fair activity on grasses, and excellent activity on broadleaves, such as giant ragweed, lambsquarters and velvetleaf; particularly when under 6 inches.

Resolve from DuPont is a tank mix partner with glyphosate for Roundup Ready corn, and can provide some residual control. It comes in several forms and can be used preplant or postemerge to corn up to 12 inches tall. Controlled grasses include barnyard grass and foxtail, as well as broadleaves such as henbit, chickweed, and shepherds purse.

Require is another DuPont premix containing dicamba, and is a postemergent herbicide for use in a Roundup Ready system for corn needing residual weed control.

Select Max from Valent was developed to help with glyphosate tolerant corn, where replanting was necessary, but herbicides had more than a 30 day interval requirement. Select Max can be applied 7 days before replanting damaged corn.

For your soybeans, FMC’s Authority MTZ and Authority Assist provide good to excellent pre-emergent help with pigweed, lambsquarters, smartweeds, morning glory and black nightshade. MTZ is a premix of Authority and Sencor to help with ragweed control. Assist is a premix of Authority and Pursuit to help with giant foxtail and shattercane.

Canopy EX from DuPont is a premix of Classic and Express and was designed for fall applications prior to soybean planting, but now can be applied up to 7 days prior. It provides burndown on annual bluegrass, chickweed, henbit and other winter annuals. Add 2,4-D to help with wild garlic, lambsquarters, and marestail.

Envive from DuPont is a premix of Valor, Classic, and Harmony GT for burndown use with residual control prior to soybean planting. It controls nightshade, lambsquarters, pigweeds, emerging marestail, ragweed, and waterhemp, as well as suppression of some grasses like foxtail.

Prefix from Syngenta combines Dual II magnum and Reflex and provides early season grass control, as well as ragweed, jimsonweed, pigweed, marestail and waterhemp. One of its ingredients is sensitive to the amount of organic matter, and rates of application may vary from farm to farm.

Summary:
Chemical companies have been busy working to blend popular and successful herbicides to better help farmers control difficult weeds, and be more applicable to areas where specific weed problems exist. Once you create a list of your weed problems, there possibly will be a new chemical that is tailored for your operation’s rotation and weed control needs. Questions can be addressed to university weed specialists through your local Extension offices.