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Managing winter annuals

For farmers wanting to make spring burndown herbicide applications, now is the time to start scouting fields.

Purdue Extension weed scientist Travis Legleiter says the warm weather this month gave those winter annuals a chance to green-up.  “Even though we’re not quite to planting yet, the winter annuals are definitely growing,” he says. “Certainly those fields that did not receive a fall burndown, that’s when the winter annuals will more than likely grow the most in those no-till acres.”

When it comes to spring burndown, Legleiter says you have to consider both the weather AND weed size.  “You want to get the weeds the smaller the better,” he says.  “But, we need to make sure the weeds are actively growing.  The rule of thumb we use for that is if we’ve had several nights above 45 degrees, plus a forecast of several nights above those temperatures – that can assure us those weeds are actively growing.”

Which, he says, means the herbicide will work.

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