Wheat growers know weeds pose a constant threat to wheat yields and profitability. Spring and winter wheat growers need to use a complete herbicide layering program to provide control of a broad spectrum of weed pressures.
Monte Kubas, UPL sales representative for North Dakota and South Dakota, says wheat growers should adopt a multi-pronged weed management program, similar to corn and soybean growers, that includes multiple strategies to control and prevent herbicide resistance. Kubas says growers can achieve clean fields year after year by practicing these sustainable herbicide management tools:
- rotate herbicide modes of action
- rotate herbicide active ingredients
- rotate crops
- use tillage as needed
Incorporating each of these tools is a key factor to ensuring that current and future herbicide chemistries remain effective in weed control.
Start With a Complete Herbicide Burndown
“Planting into a clean field is key for both spring and winter wheat growers,” Kubas says. “A herbicide burndown is the first step to controlling weed pressures all season long and can be partnered with tillage in some circumstances. I recommend to spring wheat growers to incorporate PRE-PARE® herbicide into their glyphosate burndown program. PRE-PARE herbicide enhances glyphosate's burndown by adding a residual control of grass weeds like brome, foxtail barley, wild oats, green foxtail and canola volunteers.”
In winter wheat, PRE-PARE herbicide helps control existing and early emerging bromes for up to 21 days, and other grass and broadleaf weeds that can rob moisture and nutrients from the young crop, Kubas says.
In-Season Weed Control
“Next, growers need to consider the weed spectrum of their fields,” Kubas says. Different weed species have unique reproduction and emergence flushes. Understanding the weed pressures in the field determines your optimal control package.
“EVEREST® 3.0 herbicide is a cornerstone in the UPL wheat portfolio,” Kubas says. “For years, growers have relied on EVEREST 3.0 herbicide for controlling a wide spectrum of weeds. It provides relentless control over wild oats as well.”
EVEREST 3.0 herbicide is an advanced flucarbazone-sodium formulation with new carrier technology for wave after wave of grass weed control. This new carrier technology offers greater stability of the active ingredients for easier use, enhanced performance, and longer shelf life. Growers can use EVEREST 3.0 to control a variety of grass and broadleaf weeds, including barnyard grass, bromes, cheat, green foxtail, rattail, fescue, volunteer canola, wild mustard and yellow foxtail.
EVEREST 3.0 herbicide can easily be tank-mixed with AUDIT® 1:1 or AUDIT® 4:1 herbicides for enhanced broadleaf control. Both formulation combinations offer unique benefits for certain weed combinations.
Next-Level Weed Control
Growers can upgrade their herbicide control with BATALIUM® herbicide. This unique high-performance formulation offers three modes of action that provide all-in-one weed control in a single application. The active ingredients include bromoxynil, fluroxypyr and flucarbazone.
“Growers who want to take EVEREST to the next level should look at BATALIUM,” Kubas says. “This offers growers the convenience of a one-pass system that maintains a high level of herbicide resistance management.”
BATALIUM provides long-lasting control of the toughest grass weeds like wild oats and green foxtail in addition to dependable, wide-spectrum control of broadleaf weeds like common lambsquarters, wild buckwheat and more.
For more information, contact your local UPL representative or learn more about the products in UPL's wheat portfolio, including RANCONA®-based seed treatments and EVITO® fungicide.
