Weed control is a topic that gets a lot of attention. After 2019?s wet growing season, we expect it to be an even hotter topic in 2020. Many companies focus on getting out in front of those weeds. They recommend aggressive plans that will attack increased weed pressure the whole year through. However, killing weeds is only a part of the solution. At FMC, they have been working on going after weeds at their source. They want to break the weed seed bank.
Audio: Full Interview with FMC’s Gail Stratman
We talk about weed control. We plan to get out there and try to get weeds with pre- and post-emergence plans. University researchers across the country have been saying for years that the only way to get ahead of weeds is to break their seed bank. Gail Stratman is a Regional technical manager at FMC. He says FMC has been focused on this tactic for the past couple of years.
The research they have done has shown that a sequential residual program has been lending itself to a 15-20% decrease in weed seeds in the first year alone. Stratman recommends a combination of FMC?s Authority Program products paired with their Anthem herbicides to achieve this reduction in seed production across the board in your fields. It isn?t just about spraying weeds; it is about not letting the seeds escape.
Stratman says 2020 is the perfect year to implement a newer, more aggressive weed control program. He says 2019 left us with a chance to hit the reset button.
Stratman says this is a year when farmers may have to rely on every tool in their weed control toolbox to get ahead. You may have to pull weeds, hoe weeds, cultivate, and more. We may not be able to spray our way out of this problem; but by working with FMC, they can give you every advantage in your weed control program.
In this Purdue University study on the effect of various herbicide programs on soil seedbank dynamics, viable waterhemp in the seedbank skyrocketed with treatments that did not deploy strong overlapping residual herbicides with multiple sites of action. Treatment 1, which layered strong residual herbicides PRE and POST (Authority? First DF herbicide fb Anthem? Maxx herbicide plus dicamba and glyphosate), reduced viable waterhemp emergence by 34% after one year. In contrast, metribuzin applied preemergence followed by a non-residual post-treatment resulted in a five-fold increase in viable waterhemp while POST-alone herbicide treatments increased viable waterhemp by 696% to 789%.
To learn more about FMC and their products, log on to their website or talk to your local retailer.
