Weeds Have "Taken Off"

Small morningglory

Weeds have really “taken off” after recent precipitation and should be managed aggressively, we do not need to allow them to use precious moisture. Remember many herbicides have crop stage limitations, read labels carefully to avoid risk of crop injury.  The key to a successful and sustainable weed management is the use of a multi-tactic approach. When considering herbicide applications try not to rely on a single mode of action. Using herbicides with different modes of action and/or tillage will reduce risks of resistance development. Another consideration when making herbicide applications is off target injury, whether it be drift or spray tank contamination. The following is a quick list of drift related topics to consider: environmental conditions (wind speed, direction, temperature, inversion conditions, etc), herbicide volatility, spray volume and droplet size,  ground speed and spray pressure. Sprayer cleanup is critical especially when a spray rig is used with various herbicides and on different crops. A good article published by the University of Missouri on sprayer cleanup can be found at http://goo.gl/ASg0V

Potential drift situation