News

Weed management under pressure

A weed extension specialist is cautioning farmers not to skip herbicide applications for corn and soybeans if pressed for time.

Michigan State University’s Christy Sprague tells Brownfield wet weather has delayed some preemergent herbicide plans and this week’s forecast could make soil-applied products less effective.

“It looks like we’re not going to see a whole lot of rain and for those soil-applied products to work, we need to have some rainfall for those herbicides to get incorporated into the soil—that could also be a challenge this year,” she says.

Sprague says growers should scout for early-season weed escapes to manage resistant weeds.

“Within the first couple weeks I’d start looking, particularly we’re going to start seeing towards the end of May about the time that things like water hemp are going to start to come up

making sure that we identify it early and have a plan in place to try to control it—it’s going to be very important,” she says.

And for farmers who have wheat planted, Sprague says final weed management decisions are just around the corner.