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With an early spring in some parts of the Prairies, growers and agronomists have been asked "When is too early to spray weeds?" Spraying can start under the following conditions…
Pre-seed burnoff
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There is a saying, “Good cleavers control in canola starts in cereals.” Peas and flax also offer pre-seed options not available in fields going into canola… -
Weeds will be going strong with the sun, especially if they have established roots that reach moisture while newly seeded crop battles dry topsoil conditions. A second pre-seed burnoff may be in order or — if emergence is likely to be slow — the post-seeding pre-emergence window may be a little wider than usual. Either way, early weed control remains… -
Early weed control with lower efficacy is generally preferable to no control at all or late control with higher efficacy — as long as weeds are present and not frost damaged… -
Winter annual cleavers are reported in high numbers in some fields. These need to be sprayed before seeding to prevent them from getting really large and near impossible to control with in-crop label rates. The pre-seed window provides an opportunity to hit these large cleavers with rates needed for control… -
From the road, many fields look clean this time of year, but look closer. Weed seedlings are often present at high numbers, and these seedlings will only get bigger. Now is a good time to control them, especially as days and nights get warmer… -
Seeding can begin fairly soon after a burnoff — but take note of the weeds present…
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Growers who seed before spraying may want to apply in the narrow post-seeding pre-emergence window. But if that window is missed, early in-crop weed management is essential to hold yield potential. Some yield potential is likely already lost to weeds by that time…
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While cleavers are a bigger issue in canola, given the competitiveness of the weed and the grade loss from weed seeds in the sample, growers have more options to effectively control cleavers in cereal crops. Effective cleavers management is best done with a whole rotation approach…
