October 3, 2012
It has been a very dry two months, as the map shows. Several products with high carryover risk are broken down almost exclusively through hydrolysis — the process of water splitting the herbicide molecule in two. Hydrolytic breakdown of herbicides decreases in drought, as you can imagine, and adsorption of herbicide to soil particles is increased, both of which will…
October 3, 2012
Dry soils will be difficult to penetrate, and tillage will destroy standing stubble and its snow-catching capability. We can’t predict winter weather, but this extra moisture may be valuable next spring. Turning the soil can also cause a heavy flush of weeds from long buried seeds that have lost their dormancy, and burial of weed seeds and shattered canola seed…
September 28, 2012
A long fall provides a few extra weeks to look back on the year that was — to reassess plant stands, fertilizer rates and disease levels. A long fall also gives growers an opportunity to control weeds and distribute residue in fields planned for canola in 2013…
September 12, 2012
Cold temperatures help trigger winter annuals, such as cleavers (shown), and perennials to start moving food reserves down into below ground tissues, so waiting until after the cooler weather can improve weed control. But make sure weeds are actively growing with new supple leaf area to target, and that the actual spray day is warm…
August 22, 2012
Glyphosate is registered for pre-harvest perennial weed control in canola. Glyphosate is to be applied when the majority of seeds are yellow to brown in colour and seed moisture is less than 30%. If desiccation for direct harvesting is the primary goal then a true desiccant — Reglone — may be a better option…
June 27, 2012
Growers who usually spray twice may not need to spray a second time this year if the canopy has closed, weeds are behind the crop, and the recommended application window is past. If the opposite is true, growers have to decide whether weed competition costs exceed potential yield loss…
June 20, 2012
If weeds and crop are advancing toward the end of the application window and the ground is too soft and wet to support a sprayer, then aerial spraying may be the best economic response. Roundup WeatherMax is the only glyphosate registered for aerial application at this crop stage. Liberty (glufosinate) is registered for aerial application at this stage, as is…
June 13, 2012
Canola can be damaged by trace herbicide residues left in a sprayer tank. This article underlines the importance of a complete clean out between products, and an understanding of what risks each product and each tank mix presents in terms of scrubbing effect and what may happen to a product or products if left in the tank for an extended…
June 13, 2012
To reduce drift, use coarse sprays and apply at lower pressure, spray with at least some wind (calm is bad), slow down, consider shrouds, and keep the boom low…
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