Anthem Flex Receives Peanut Label (Prostko)

Anthem Flex 4SE, from FMC, recently received full labeling for use in peanut.  Anthem Flex is a combination of pyroxasulfone (3.733 lbs/gal) and carfentrazone (0.267 lbs/gal).  I have been testing Anthem Flex for many years so there is lots of data supporting its use in GA.  Here are a few thoughts:

1) Anthem Flex will compete for market share in peanut with Dual Magnum (S-metolachlor), Outlook (dimethenamid-P), Warrant (acetochlor), and Zidua (pyroxasulfone). 

2) As far as I am concerned, there are no major differences between any of these herbicides when used in my recommended peanut weed control programs (Figure 1).

3) Anthem Flex and Zidua should only be applied POST in peanut due to crop injury concerns with PRE applications.  Either can be tank-mixed with Gramoxone, Cadre, or Cobra.  

4) Since Anthem Flex also contains carfentrazone (the same AI in Aim), higher levels of foliar leaf injury (burn) should be expected (Figure 2).  However, this increased leaf injury has not resulted in significant peanut yield losses.

5) I have tank-mixed Anthem Flex with the following fungicides: Tilt/Bravo, Abound, Fontelis, Provost, Priaxor, Artisan, and Elast.  Peanut leaf burn was increased 6%-12% when Tilt/Bravo, Fontelis, Artisan, and Elast were tank-mixed with Anthem Flex but peanut yields were not reduced.     

5) For additional information about the research that I have conducted on Anthem Flex in peanut, refer to the following PowerPoint slide presentation:
http://www.gaweed.com/slides/web-anthem%20flex/index.html

6) A copy of the complete Anthem Flex label can be obtained from the following location:
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/agrian-cg-fs1-production/pdfs/Anthem_Flex1m_Label.pdf

  

Prowl/Field Corn, Valor/Grain Sorghum, and Balance Bean Herbicide (Prostko)

Got a few reoccurring questions over the last week, so I thought I would share a few thoughts with you:

1) I have heard that a few field corn growers have been reluctant to apply Prowl POST in field corn due to potential injury concerns, especially root pruning.  POST applications of Prowl can cause root injury but this usually only occurs when the corn seed has been planted < 1.5" deep and seed-furrow closure is not adequate.  With 21 years of data under my belt in Georgia, I am not overly worried about POST applications of Prowl causing unacceptable field corn injury (assuming correct application rate, timing, seed depth, etc.).  Figure 1 presents some recent research data from UGA which indicated that the addition of Prowl to Roundup + Atrazine did not reduce corn yields (note the very high yields).  In fact, the combination of Roundup + Atrazine + Prowl has been the standard POST program that I have compared all other newer herbicide programs to for many years (Figure 2).   

2) What about using Valor (2 oz/A) in a pre-plant burndown before planting grain sorghum???  That's perfectly legal as long as the labeled 30 day replant interval is followed.  BUT, BUT, BUT, do we really want to risk any potential increases in PPO-resistance by using Valor on a relatively minor crop in Georgia?????  I have been preaching over the last few years that we need to save Valor for cotton and peanut.  Field corn and grain sorghum are the only 2 row crops where the use of a PPO herbicide is not 100% necessary.  Thus, grain sorghum growers who want to add a residual herbicide in their burndown program, especially when planting will be delayed for a few weeks, should consider adding either Dual Magnum or Warrant.  Please remember that when Dual Magnum or Warrant are used in grain sorghum prior to planting or PRE, the seed must be treated with Concep.  

3) Balance Bean Herbicide (isoxaflutole), from Bayer CropScience, was recently registered for use on GT27 or isoxaflutole-resistant soybeans.  Because of our herbicide-resistant weed issues, there might be some grower interest in this herbicide. But, UGA Extension (i.e. me and you) will not be officially recommending its use for now due to the fact that no efficacy/tolerance data has been collected in Georgia, adapted soybean variety data is not readily available, and the label that I have recently seen only permits Balance Bean applications in 7 Georgia counties (Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Echols, Evans, Lanier, and Lowndes). I need to find out more information about these county restrictions and collect a bunch of local data before I would ever want a Georgia soybean grower to consider its use.