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Corn growers have new weed management challengesBy Jennifer Bremer
New weed management challenges are facing today's corn farmers, but optimizing weed management is needed to maximize yields. University of Illinois assistant professor of weed science, Aaron Hager, who spoke at the Ag Issues Forum sponsored by Bayer CropScience, said in the past five to six years weeds have been atypical and, while they have been controllable, farmers need to learn how to manage them. "There is a difference in managing weeds and controlling weeds," he explained. "Weeds can be controlled by tillage, soil applied herbicides and post-emergence herbicides." Hager suggests for farmers to become accustomed to total post-emergence weed control in soybeans--but timing is the most important thing when determining when to spray crops. "There are important differences in weed management in corn and soybean," he said. "Weed interference begins to reduce yields sooner in corn than in soybeans." Hager said it is hard to define when the weed interference begins to reduce yields, as many factors have an impact on that, including climate, environment and rainfall. The two key factors to prevent losses due to improper weed management are: to be cautious about what kind of weed control system to use and to scout fields and remove weed interference every two to three weeks. "Weed control cost is the cost of seed plus herbicide cost," he said. "This can obviously vary, but weed control is important for profit in the end." Hager stressed that waiting too long to spray crops can lead to a larger percentage of losses in yields. Waterhemp is the number one problem weed in both corn and soybeans and he said it has continued to be a problem. The continual problem could be because waterhemp has been identified as many different weeds. Glyphosate-resistant weeds are becoming more of a problem for farmers, also. This problem is often not determined until a field is sprayed and the farmer reports the herbicide did not control the weeds. "The ability of glyphosate to be a stand-alone herbicide for weed management will continue to decline," said Hager. Continual studies are being conducted to better understand glyphosate-resistant weeds and how they spread--through seed or pollen or both. Hager said nuclear inherited traits move in both seed and pollen and since these can affect a lot of crops in a short amount of time, he feels it is very important to find the answers. Hager also warns that weed problems seen in one crop could move over to cause the same problem with weeds in other crops. "Farmers seem to be very responsive to making changes in their systems to control weeds," he said. "There are many problem weeds out there and, most importantly, farmers need to keep control of their weed situation in order to prevent yield losses." Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 515-833-2120 or by e-mail at jbremer@hpj.com
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