Season-long zero-tolerance weed management – it pays off!

Palmer amaranth and waterhemp are destructively dangerous weeds. Palmer amaranth – already documented in 28 U.S. states – can cause yield losses of up to 91 percent. With waterhemp, which has spread to 40 states, the reported yield loss is as much as 15 percent. Both these weeds have tiny seeds that easily transfer through wind, weather, manure, animals, and farm machinery. And they produce vast amounts of seed in a season – Palmer amaranth up to 500,000 seeds and waterhemp over one million. “Anything less than 100 percent control of prolific seed producers like Palmer amaranth and waterhemp opens the door to thousands, if not millions, of weeds in future seasons,” said Mark Waddington, selective corn herbicides product development manager at Bayer. “As more seeds are added to the weed seed bank, weed control becomes increasingly difficult.”

 

One of the key messages put across in Bayer’s tent at this year’s Farm Progress Show was need for integrated weed management and a holistic approach to managing Palmer amaranth and waterhemp. “This includes crop rotation, tillage and cover crops, as well as monitoring ditches and borders,” said Frank Rittemann, selective corn herbicides product manager at Bayer. The key message visitors took home was that it pays to lower the weed seed bank – through developing a weed seed bank plan, implementing crop rotation, and tank-mixing multiple effective modes of action.

Frank Rittemann recommended a two-pass approach to control these destructive weeds: Corvus® as a pre-emergence herbicide to get fields off to a clean start, and DiFlexx® DUO as a post-emergence herbicide to clean up any weeds that may have escaped and, above all, prepare a field for the next season by combating small-seeded weeds, in particular. “Corvus followed by DiFlexx DUO provides a zero-tolerance approach to weed management,” Frank added. “This approach combines multiple effective sites of action and six distinct and powerful active ingredients for season-long control and proactive resistance management.” (Click here for full Interview)

When combating Palmer amaranth and waterhemp it pays off to take a zero-tolerance approach. Anything else puts a farm’s sustainable viability at risk. 

IWM Display at Farm Progress Show