Lewis, KS, 2018: A grower points at his corn crop while discussing the season’s conditions.

Conditions ranging from cold and dry to hot and dry sums up the 2018 corn season in KS. Record-setting cold and dry conditions from January through April delayed planting, before moving to hot and dry conditions in July. Once into August, cooler temperatures and more evenly distributed rain showers provided some relief going into harvest. But overall, it was a tough corn season for many. According to Kansas State Agronomy Extension:

• January – mid-April: went into the books as one of the driest periods in the state’s history
• May – July: was warmer than average, offering no relief to the widespread drought conditions
• August-harvest: provided cooler temperatures and much-needed rains. Unfortunately, heavy rainfall over Labor Day weekend resulted in flash flooding in and around Manhattan

While it’s hard to predict if 2019 will offer better conditions, one thing is for sure: Mother Nature is unpredictable.

The best bet to protect and grow your corn yields in 2019, besides choosing corn hybrids suited to the drier Kansas climate, is to make sure you control tough weeds. Starting clean and staying clean throughout the season maximizes corn’s ability to turn nutrients, sunlight and water into grain.

To start clean and stay clean in 2019, we recommend Acuron® corn herbicide. Acuron combines 4 active ingredients, 3 effective sites of action (SOAs) and benoxacor, a corn safener, in one convenient premix. In addition to being safe, Acuron provides reliable control of 70+ tough weeds, regardless of weather conditions, soil type, application preference, tillage system or field geography. Acuron also provides flexible application from 28 days pre-plant up to 12-inch corn.

Its atrazine-free counterpart, Acuron Flexi, has 3 active ingredients, 2 effective SOAs and provides the same reliable safety and performance with an increased application window – from 28 days pre-plant up to 30-inch corn.

Both Acuron brands can be applied in 1 or 2-pass systems. In a 2-pass system, Halex® GT herbicide plus either an atrazine or dicamba product may be used as the post application. Applying Halex GT post-emergence following Acuron or Acuron Flexi adds another site of action.

Cunningham, KS, 2018: Acuron 63 days after treatment.

Lewis, KS, 2018: Acuron Flexi 12 days after the second treatment.

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All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.