Chemical companies continue to dust off proven products, give them new names and improve safety. Yet a number of products for the 2006 growing season also offer corn growers more flexibility.
Resolve, from DuPont, is a broad-spectrum corn herbicide that can be used preplant, pre-emerge and postemerge, providing both contact and residual, says James Flater, U.S. corn herbicide product manager.
“It's a flexible product. Resolve was designed to work in all different corn systems, whether it's conventional corn, glyphosate-tolerant or Liberty Link or Herculex corn. And it's at a lower cost than a lot of the pre- or post-emergence products on the market right now,” Flater says.
Resolve adds residual control when tankmixed postemerge with glyphosate on glyphosate-tolerant corn. It can be applied on corn up to 12 in. tall or at the five-leaf-collar stage.
“In a lot of cases, farmers are using two applications of glyphosate. When tankmixing Resolve with glyphosate for the first application, money-wise, it's pretty close to the same cost as two trips of glyphosate — without having to go across the field a second time. When you talk with growers and ask them if they had a wish list of how they could make their glyphosate systems better, 99% say they wish they had some residual to it. Resolve brings that.”
The herbicide's active ingredient, rimsulfuron, also provides contact activity, Flater says. It comes packaged in 20-oz. bottles and through the DuPont PrecisonPac system. Resolve is especially tough on lambsquarter and velvetleaf.
A postemergence product from Amvac Chemical Corp., Impact, controls velvetleaf, cocklebur, pigweed, common and tall waterhemp, lambsquarters, kochia and other broadleaf weeds, as well as some grasses (marketed as GrassAssist).
It, too, provides flexibility, says Bill Jacobs, the company's Midwest regional manager.
“Impact has the flexibility to be used in a wide range of weed control programs in conjunction with most soil-applied and postemergence corn herbicides. This allows growers, agricultural retailers and custom applicators to design strategies to fit their weed spectrums and preferred herbicide partners,” Jacobs says.
It has a wide application window — anytime after corn emergence until 45 days before harvest, but for best results should be applied when broadleaf weeds are 2-5 in. tall. It is labeled for use on Roundup Ready and Liberty Link hybrids and can be tankmixed with residual herbicides for one-pass post burndown.
Three introductions into the pre-emergent corn market are First Act, Double Team and Parallel Plus from Makhteshim Agan Industries (MANA).
First Act is acetochlor; Double Team is a premix of acetochlor and atrazine; and Parallel Plus is a premix of metolachlor, atrazine and benoxacor safener. They control a broad spectrum of both grass and broadleaf weeds.
“While our new acetochlor and metolachlor brands fit nicely in conjunction with Roundup Ready corn systems, they will also deliver the weed control and crop safety growers seek on the traditional acre,” says Mark Bishop, MANA product manager.
New names for some old proven products have been introduced by Agriliance. Charger Max is an S-metolachlor that controls most annual grasses and small-seeded broadleaf weeds, similar to Syngenta's Dual II Magnum. The Agri-liance product contains a safener, benoxacor, and can be applied early preplant, preplant incorporated or pre-emergence. It can also be tankmixed with a number of pre-emergent products and applied postemergence on certain crops.
Charger Max ATZ is a combination of atrazine and S-metolachlor, plus benoxacor. As with Bicep II Magum, it can be applied preplant, pre-emerge and post, controlling many grass and broadleaf weeds. A restricted-use herbicide, it is labeled for ground or aerial application.
Charger Max ATZ Lite, which controls the same assortment of grasses and broadleaves as Bicep Lite II Magnum, contains the safener benoxacor. It also holds more S-metolachlor, and less atrazine than Charger Max ATZ. It can be used from early preplant through early post in corn, alone or in pre-emergent or post tankmixes. Charger Max ATZ Lite is also a restricted-use herbicide labeled for ground or aerial application.
All three products can be tankmixed with glyphosate for Roundup Ready corn.
Pendant contains pendimethalin and controls many grasses and key broadleaf weeds, much like BASF's Prowl and Dow's Pendimax. It can be used alone or in a tankmix as a foundation treatment followed by a post herbicide in many crops. It provides residual control when tankmixed with glyphosate.
Two new selective soil-applied herbicides have been introduced by Drexel Chemical.
Power Play is a preplant-incorporated product that contains EPTC and acetochlor. It offers broad-spectrum control of foxtails, crabgrass, lambsquarters, nightshades, redroot pigweed, tall waterhemp and other grasses and broadleaves.
For best results, the pre-emergent chemical should be applied and incorporated at the same time; corn should be planted within two weeks after treatment.
Razencane 6.7E, besides having an unusual name, contains 6.7 lbs./gal. of EPTC and can be applied preplant. It controls foxtails, seedling johnsongrass, nutsedge and bermudagrass and suppresses woolly cupgrass and wild proso millet.
The herbicide should also be incorporated and contains a safener.
The familiar Gramoxone, from Syngenta Crop Protection, has another new name — Gramoxone Inteon — but provides the same broad-spectrum burndown weed control as Gramoxone Max.
The user-friendly product contains paraquat. It makes use of alginates — natural products that help reduce paraquat toxicity — and emetics and purgatives, which expel the chemical in the event of accidental ingestion.
It also comes with simpler rates to make handling and mixing easier. Gramoxone Inteon contains 2 lbs./gal. of paraquat compared to the 3 lbs. used in Gramoxone Max.