New Liberty 24 (c) State Label to Help Georgia Cotton Farmers (Culpepper)

As a result of great team work with the Georgia Department of Agriculture and BASF, Georgia cotton farmers have a new Liberty label allowing shortened intervals between sequential Liberty applications which can improve weed control.

Research has shown understanding the time interval between sequential post applications is one of many critical components for an effective weed management system. The figure below compares 6" Palmer amaranth response to sequential Liberty applications as influenced by interval between applications. Obviously, one needs to apply Liberty when the biggest pigweed in the field is 3” for complete control and in this event a follow up application can be made when the next flush of pigweed reaches 3”. With the challenging weather during 2020, spraying all weeds at 3” or less may not be practical for some fields; thus, when pigweed is too large to kill with the first application then the second application timing is important.

DO NOT MAKE MORE THAN TWO LIBERTY APPLICATIONS in a season for resistance management purposes; follow the second Liberty application 10-12 days later with a lay-by directed application including conventional chemistry such as Diuron + MSMA + Crop Oil or Roundup + Diuron (add Envoke with lay-by if morningglory or nutsedge is an issue; check carryover restrictions)!

A few critical points from the label: 

1) One must have the following 24 (c) label in hand when making application (click on label picture to make larger); 

2) Liberty may be applied twice over-the-top of glufosinate-tolerant cotton as long as there is at least a 5 day interval between applications; 

3) Do not include tank-mix partners when making two applications less than 10 days apart. 

4) Do not apply more than 36 oz/A over-the-top of cotton per application.

Dicamba Update (Culpepper)

Yesterday, the U.S. EPA released critical information on the use of Engenia, Fexapan, and XtendiMax. The entire news release can be found at https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-offers-clarity-farmers-light-recent-court-vacatur-dicamba-registrations

Please visit the website for details; however, below are the details of the order:

“Details of the Order

EPA’s order addresses sale, distribution, and use of existing stocks of the three affected dicamba products – XtendiMax with vapor grip technology, Engenia, and FeXapan.

1. Distribution or sale by any person is generally prohibited except for ensuring proper disposal or return to the registrant.
2. Growers and commercial applicators may use existing stocks that were in their possession on June 3, 2020, the effective date of the Court decision. Such use must be consistent with the product’s previously-approved label, and may not continue after July 31, 2020.”

Cotton Weed Control Thoughts (Use only labeled products and follow all labeled directions and restrictions):

Scenario One:  Large pigweed with enough in-crop dicamba for two applications:  Spray labeled Roundup + dicamba immediately, wait 7 to 10 days and then make a second application; 12 days later run the lay-by rig with either 1) Direx + MSMA + Crop Oil if grasses are not up or 2) Roundup + Direx if grasses are up (add Envoke with lay-by if morningglory or nutsedge is a problem).

Scenario Two:  Large pigweed with enough in-crop dicamba for one application:  Spray labeled Roundup + dicamba immediately, wait 7 to 10 days and then make a Liberty tank mix application; 12 days later run the lay-by rig with either 1) Direx + MSMA + Crop Oil if grasses are not up or 2) Roundup + Direx if grasses are up (add Envoke with lay-by if morningglory or nutsedge is a problem).

Scenario Three: Large pigweed with no dicamba available. Sequential Liberty applications will be best approach although less effective than either dicamba system above. We were able to obtain a new state label for Liberty shortening intervals between sequential applications which will improve control (will be sending this information in another blog soon).

Other Thoughts:

1. Tavium registration was not revoked and therefore the herbicide is not impacted as of now.
2. The Enlist program of herbicides are following a similar path to that of Engenia, Fexapan, and XtendiMax in the court system. No one can predict the future.

In Georgia, we have all worked so hard to steward every pesticide and we should collectively be proud! However, this is a wakeup call in several ways. First, we must work together even harder generating sound science to preempt this type of situation in the future. Second, for those few growers who have down played 

Peanut Weed Control Thoughts This Week - May 25 (Prostko)

A few things to share with your growers based upon my phone calls and field observations: 

1) I am getting the feeling that many peanut growers are blindly applying EPOST or "cracking" sprays of paraquat without first walking their fields.  From my field plots earlier today, Figure 1 is a picture of a non-treated check (NTC) plot while Figure 2 is a picture of Prowl + Valor + Strongarm applied PRE.  In this case, the PRE herbicides worked as expected and there is no need for an EPOST or "cracking" application of paraquat.  

Figure 1. Non-treated check plot. Ty Ty, GA. May 28, 2020.

Figure 2.  PRE applied Prowl H20 @ 32 oz/A + Valor EZ @ 3 oz/A + Strongarm @ 0.225 oz/A.
Ty Ty, GA.  May 28, 2020.  Photo 17 DAP.

2) I have been hearing some interesting recommendations for "cracking" sprays coming from industry but I (UGA) will stick with what works and has been proven by lots of research (i.e. paraquat + Storm or Basagran + Anthem Flex or Dual Magnum or Outlook or Warrant or Zidua) (Figure 3).

Figure 3.  Left = NTC; Right = Prowl H20 @ 32 oz/A (PRE) then Gramoxone 3SL @ 8 oz/A + Storm @ 16 oz/A  + Dual Magnum @ 16 oz/A  applied 3 days ago.

3)  The current price of Storm 4SL (~$80/gal) has some folks gasping for breath.  Thus, 16 oz/A costs $10.00/A.  If a grower wants to make his/her own Storm, the equivalent mix would be Ultra Blazer @ 11 oz/A ($4.38/A) + Basagran @ 11 oz/A ($3.87/A).  However, if a grower was going to mix his/her Storm, I would prefer the mixture to be Ultra Blazer @ 16 oz/A ($6.38/A) + Basagran @ 8 oz/A ($2.81/A).  But, this mix would be slightly hotter and more effective.  

Valor Injury on Peanut Is likely (Prostko)

Rainfall events of May 20/21 will likely result in Valor injury on peanut.  Although I have addressed this issue in many previous blogs (June 3, 2013; May 20, 2014, May 26, 2017, May 6, 2019), here is another general summary of the Valor injury/yield data that I have collected over the past 21 years: 

1)      11 replicated field trials with reliable yield data

2)      11/11 trials, Valor 51WG @ 3 oz/A had no negative effect on peanut yield

3)      9/11 trials, no difference in yield between 3 oz/A and 6 oz/A (FYI, 6 oz/A is not labeled or recommended)

4)      2/11 trials, 6 oz/A caused yield losses when compared to 3 oz/A (6.9% to 8.8% yield loss).

Bottom line is that peanut fields suffering from injury, when Valor was applied at the labeled rate (3 oz/A) and timing (no later than 2 DAP), will very likely recover with no effects on final yield!

Cracking Time Reminders for Peanuts (Prostko)

As of May 11, 28% of the Georgia peanut crop was reported as planted.  Thus, peanut growers should now be evaluating the success of their PRE weed control programs and deciding on the need for early postemergence or "cracking" herbicide applications.  Here are a few reminders about cracking sprays:

1) If a peanut grower started clean and used a good residual weed control program (i.e. Prowl or Sonalan + Valor + Strongarm) that was activated with irrigation or rainfall, the need for a cracking spray is questionable.  Best thing in this situation is to go to the field and look to see what has escaped or not.  If the field is relatively weed-free, a cracking spray may not be justifiable.   Growers might consider waiting until 30-40 DAP to pull the trigger earlier on a POST program such as Cadre + 2,4-DB + Anthem Flex or Dual Magnum or Outlook or Warrant or Zidua.  

2) If a grower decides to use a cracking spray, I would suggest a combination of paraquat + Storm or Basagran + Anthem Flex or Dual Magnum or Outlook or Warrant or Zidua.  Suggested use rates would be as follows:

    a) 2 lb ai/gal paraquat = 12 oz/A or 3 lb ai/A paraquat = 8 oz/A

    b) Storm 4SL @ 16 oz/A or Basagran 4SL @ 8 oz/A.  If a grower wants to make his own "Georgia" Storm then use Ultra Blazer 2SL @ 16 oz/A + Basagran 4SL @ 8 oz/A.

    c) Anthem Flex 4SE @ 3 oz/A or Dual Magnum 7.62EC @ 16 oz/A or Outlook 6EC @ 12.8 oz/A or Warrant 3ME @ 48 oz/A or Zidua 85WG @ 1.5 oz/A or Zidua 4.17SC @ 2.5 oz/A.

3) If Dual Magnum or Outlook are used with paraquat + Storm or Basagran, no additional adjuvants are required.  If Anthem Flex or Warrant or Zidua are used, a NIS @ 0.25% v/v is suggested.

4) I would prefer peanut cracking sprays to be applied in 15 GPA and tractor speeds of 10 MPH or less to improve spray coverage and reduce the production of dust (which can greatly reduce paraquat efficacy). 

5) Given the option of using either an AIXR or TTI spray tip, I would prefer the AIXR tip.  

6) If growers use higher rates of paraquat and/or delay paraquat applications past 28 days after cracking (DAC), the risk for yield loss resulting from paraquat injury is increased.  Recent results from a 2018 weed-free field trial indicated that paraquat treatments applied ~35 DAC resulted in a 5.5% peanut yield reduction.

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.