One of the biggest concerns we hear from farmers thinking about growing conventional corn is the issue of weed control. After all, how can you manage weeds in your fields when you can’t use traditional non-selective herbicide products?
But the reality of a conventional corn herbicide program is that the only time you can’t use your typical glyphosate or glufosinate spray is post-emergence.
And there are plenty of other available options in your weed control toolbox for use prior to and after emergence.
The same is true for any crop, but getting off to a good start with effective burndown and pre-emergence weed control is particularly essential when growing conventional corn.
Prior to emergence, you can utilize glyphosate or glufosinate as part of your burndown program, along with any recommended or required adjuvants and additional products—such as approved broadleaf controlling herbicides—to increase your modes of action to help control weeds and grass right from the beginning.
There are many premix and multiple-MOA herbicide plans that can provide effective residual control of weeds, so be sure to chat with a member of the FBN Agronomy team or your local FBN Hub to determine which options are best for your operation.
Need to control weeds in your fields?
When timed correctly, your burndown and pre-emergence efforts to fight weed pressure have the potential to get your corn crop to the point where it reaches full canopy, which provides shade and serves as a natural defense against new weed growth.
If a one-pass program doesn't provide effective weed control prior to canopy, however, you still have the option to apply any post-emergent weed control herbicides over conventional corn you normally would with traited corn—with the exception of glyphosate and glufosinate.
Without these two products available in your post-emergent herbicide program for conventional corn, you may be concerned about grass escapes. If in a worst-case scenario you do see grass breakthroughs prior to then, a targeted rescue application of a nicosulfuron product, such as Accent® Q, can help bridge the gap.
This may add a small amount of cost to your management strategy, but it can keep your field clean until Mother Nature steps in and ensures your crop isn’t facing competition for water and nutrients during its critical development periods.
Ready to give conventional corn another look? Find out how planting conventional corn seed from F2F Genetics Network™ can help you save on input costs and potentially boost return on investment on your operation.
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