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Putting a weed control plan in place

Warm temperatures and drought conditions could force farmers in the Western Corn Belt to go on the offensive when it comes to weed control.

UPL Tech Services Lead Lynn Justesen says farmers will need to plan, but they’ll have to be flexible.  “We may not get second opportunities,” he says.  “Whether it is an opportunity to get a pre-emerge out or if we don’t control something between our pre-emerge or our post-emerge trip, we may not have the opportunity to spray it again later.”

He tells Brownfield weeds could break much earlier than normal this year.  “The conditions are warm, and the conditions are dry,” he says.  “The soil temperature, because there is bare ground and not snow on any place, the soil is going to warm up.”

Justesen says with the lack of precipitation, weed control will be even more important this year.  “The biggest concern may be is what is that weed doing or what is that weed pulling for moisture out of the soil,” he says.  “A sunflower, a cocklebur, a waterhemp, many of those weeds will pull water out of the soil.  They are more efficient at drawing water out of soils than any of our row crops.”

He says anything farmers can do to keep weeds out helps them conserve water for when the corn crop needs it most.

AUDIO: Lynn Justesen, UPL Tech Services Lead