Want to keep weeds out of your fields and prevent herbicide resistance? Use this handy checklist as a guide.
- Make a plan – Think long-term. Strategize to delay the evolution of herbicide resistance and reduce weed seeds.
- Go full-rate – Apply full rates of effective pre- and postemergent herbicides with multiple modes of action (MOAs). Dead plants can’t produce resistant progeny.
- Get ‘em when they’re little – Spray weeds when they’re shorter than 4 inches. Don’t wait.
- Spice things up – Don’t stick with the same old single MOA. Use multiple, effective MOAs everywhere, every time.
- Scout it out – Correctly ID weeds by species. Kill weeds that escape an herbicide application.
- Zero tolerance policy – Destroy uncontrolled weeds, which might mean you have to pull them by hand. Seed from escaped weeds will contribute to the weed seedbank.
- Don’t ditch your ditches – Weeds aren’t limited to your fields. Don’t let them thrive in forgotten field edges, fence lines and waterways.
- Keep it clean – Don’t let weed seeds hitch a ride. Clean tillage and harvest equipment.
- Do more than spray – Consider using mechanical and/or cultural control practices, like tillage or cover crops.
- Re-evaluate and repeat – Review your weed-management results at the end of each season and revise to improve next year.
Click here for more information on managing herbicide-resistant weeds.
