A proven method for understanding opponents is to put yourself in their shoes and see the world as they see it – in this case, to think like a weed. What do weeds need to thrive? What plant characteristics and cultural practices are beneficial to herbicide-resistant weeds? What management tactics have proven effective against them?
New herbicide offerings for 2013 will allow growers to follow the resistance management advice of leading weed scientists – always use a soil-applied pre-emergence herbicide and employ multiple sites of herbicide activity. See mode of action chart (pdf).
If corn breeders wanted to put their drought-tolerant hybrids to the acid test, 2012 was the year to do it. The record-breaking drought, coupled with extreme heat, presented a worst-case scenario for new drought-tolerant, water-optimized products from DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto and Syngenta. All three have more drought-tolerant hybrids available for 2013.
