NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
January 6, 2000
North Dakota producers are likely to have only four new herbicides to add to their weed-control arsenal for the 2000 growing season. Three of the products are for use in small grains and one in soybeans. Meanwhile, producers will be able to choose from between 30 and 40 new premixes, says a researcher in North Dakota State University's Department of Plant Sciences.
"Up until now, we've had many new products to talk about each year," says Richard Zollinger, extension weed specialist at NDSU. "But what's happening as a result of the Roundup Ready technologies is that companies are devoting less resources to the development of new products."
The new small grain herbicides are Harmony GT, Discover and Maverick. Both Harmony GT and Maverick are sulfonylurea herbicides. Registration is pending for Harmony GT, a short-residual product which will be labeled for use in hard red spring wheat, durum, winter wheat, barley and chemical fallow. Zollinger says a key feature of Harmony GT is its ability to be tankmixed with most grass herbicides without antagonism. A very long residual herbicide labeled for both spring and winter wheat, Maverick is effective at controlling winter annual grasses such as cheatgrass and downy brome, so it will most likely see use as a winter wheat herbicide in the western part of the state.
"Discover is very good at controlling foxtails and wild oat," says Zollinger. "And somewhat like Harmony GT, producers will be able to tankmix many of the broadleaf herbicides with Discover, so you pick up the grass weeds and the broadleaf weeds--without antagonism."
Also like Harmony GT, registration is pending for Discover. Zollinger expects registration to occur early this year, so Discover should be available by the start of the 2000 production season.
For soybean production, the new herbicide for 2000 is Authority, which offers control of nightshade, kochia, water hemp and biennial wormwood. Zollinger says, "Kochia has become resistant to a lot of our sulfonylurea and `IMI' herbicides. Water hemp has moved into this area and is naturally tolerant to many of the herbicides we use. Likewise, biennial wormwood is tolerant to many of the row-crop herbicides we use, so Authority, I think, will play a strong role in controlling these problem weeds that have developed within the last few years."
Meanwhile, the array of new premixes on the market in 2000 may lead to some confusion among producers, Zollinger says. One reason is that while the names of the premixes may be new, the products are actually combinations of existing herbicides.
But at the same time, the new premixes will offer producers two key benefits. Zollinger explains, "The companies are offering convenience. Instead of producers mixing the products themselves, the premixes are already in a package, and more times than not, the manufacturer is selling the grower the premix at a reduced cost, compared to buying each product separately."
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Source: Richard Zollinger (701) 231-8157
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136