Soybean School: Why tackle herbicide resistance with multiple modes of action?

by

Many agronomists talk about the importance of multiple modes of action when planning a weed control program. In this episode of RealAgriculture’s Soybean School, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed specialist Mike Cowbrough shows you why.

We catch up with Cowbrough as he surveys a patch of Canada fleabane that has survived a glyphosate burndown. Soybeans have been planted in the field and are about to emerge and Cowbrough is reviewing his few remaining control options for glyphosate resistant fleabane as the soybeans are ready to break ground.

Summary

  • Ideally, the Canada fleabane in this field should have been controlled three to four weeks earlier, but Mother Nature refused to cooperate.
  • It’s 10 days after glyphosate application and Cowbrough is not very optimistic. “We’re seeing yellowing in the growing point – hopefully this dies, but I also see a lot of browning and leaf burn and that sometimes can be an indication that we are dealing with a herbicide-resistant population.”
  • The 10-acre field poses a common dilemma that many growers struggle with related to herbicide-resistant weeds, says Cowbrough. The 20-metre patch of resistant fleabane probably makes up about 1% of the field – it’s a small patch. “So the dilemma becomes… I’m going to use glyphosate in my burndown to control the majority of weeds. But I don’t know if this fleabane is resistant or not. Do I tank mix another mode of action that will cost me another $5, $10, $15 per acre or do I just hope it dies with glyphosate?” he asks.
  • Growers who opt to add another herbicide with another useful mode of action to their tank have a much better chance of controlling the herbicide resistant patch of fleabane. The only option for growers who stick with straight glyphosate is to hand-pull the offending weed patches. “If we let this all go to seed, we’re looking at hundreds of thousands of seeds. This 20-square-metre patch is going to be much bigger next year,” warns Cowbrough.

Click here for more Soybean School episodes.

Wake up with RealAgriculture

Subscribe to our daily newsletters to keep you up-to-date with our latest coverage every morning.

Wake up with RealAgriculture

Other Episodes

Soybean School (view all)Season 7 (2018) Episode 19
Episodes:

Please register to read and comment.

 

Register for a RealAgriculture account to manage your Shortcut menu instead of the default.

Register