11/11/2020

Palmer Amaranth Resistance Spreading in Corn

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Watch Your Fields for the Difficult Weed

Farmers are known for being resilient and adaptive people. As a retailer, you know how well your customers adapt to new challenges. One challenge that continues to get tougher is herbicide resistance. Many weeds are becoming harder to control with each season. A good way to help your growers stay ahead of trouble is to understand which weeds are on the move and developing greater resistance.

Palmer Amaranth Resistance Growing
Jason Gibson, market development specialist for Corteva Agriscience in Nebraska, notes that one weed to watch in corn is Palmer amaranth, saying, “The resistance is growing.”

Farmers have been watching resistant Palmer amaranth spread in the Midwest for several years now. Gibson advises paying very close attention. If the resistant weed hasn’t reached your area yet, he says, it could very soon. You’ll need to advise your customers that what worked to control it in the past might not work anymore.

“Before, we were able to get one chemistry to perform well, or the other one independently, and now we have to do a lot more mixtures together to get the Palmer amaranth controlled, especially on the postemergence applications,” Gibson explains. “So, therefore, we’re trying to really encourage customers to use a program approach of a preemergence, followed by a timely postemergence.”

A Program Approach on Palmer Amaranth
Gibson says a program approach is imperative now. Your customers should no longer try to control weeds like Palmer amaranth with simply just a preemergence or a postemergence. That might not cut it. He advises using a burndown herbicide, a preemergence and then postemergence applications that use multiple modes of action and provide residual control.

Gibson suggests applying a preemergence such as SureStart® II herbicide and following it with a postemergence application of Realm® Q Herbicide to control Palmer amaranth in corn. Those aren’t the only options though. You can explore all of the corn herbicides from Corteva Agriscience to build the right customized program approach to control Palmer amaranth for your customers.

Resistant weeds won’t be going away anytime soon. So, stay ahead of them and help your customers stand up to the challenge going forward.

Realm® Q and SureStart® II are not registered for sale or use in all states. SureStart II is not available for sale, distribution or use in Nassau and Suffolk counties in the state of New York. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.