2017: New Holland, OH: Acuron® herbicide 2.5 qt/A plus atrazine 1.5 qt/A applied preemergence. Photo taken 62 days after treatment.

It’s a good time to look back and evaluate your 2020 season; both what worked and what didn’t. While a new season will always bring unexpected challenges, there are a few rules you can follow to find more bushels in 2021. Importantly, you need to know your corn crop’s opponents – i.e., key problem weeds.

• Early-season weeds are yield robbers, so it’s important to know which weeds are present in your fields and their individual strengths and weaknesses.
• Make scouting a regular part of your farm management routine to stay on top of which weeds are emerging and when.
• Once you know your weed opponents, you can make well-informed decisions about agronomic practices and herbicide programs.

While no one may really want to walk tasseled corn, implementing a good scouting program can help you stay clean throughout the season as well, and it’ll give you an idea of what weeds escaped the current herbicide program so you can adapt.

After identifying what you’re up against, focus on how you want to implement your agronomic practices so you can start and stay clean throughout the season. That starts with an effective weed management program utilizing a herbicide with multiple effective sites of action. This helps ensure quality weed control and prevents the spread of resistance – and overlapping residuals which help extend control through crop canopy and beyond.

No matter what herbicide program you choose, a 2-pass program is always going to be superior to a 1-pass program. Dr. Erin Burns, assistant professor and extension weed scientist at Michigan State University, notes that for optimal herbicide performance and weed resistance management, growers should always use full labeled rates, otherwise you may be faced with weeds developing metabolic resistance.

When implementing your program, Dr. Burns says there are different approaches based on which type of system your farm utilizes. If using a conventional tillage system, ensure that tillage pass does what it’s designed to do and takes out those weeds that are coming. If using a no-till system, think about whether or not you’re utilizing a good burndown practice, something that’s going to manage winter annuals and weeds that are going to compete with that crop early in the season.

A corn herbicide such as Acuron  will help control early-season weeds. And with the longest-lasting residual of more than 70 key problem weeds, it can continue to keep fields clean through harvest. By managing weeds from the start of the season, Acuron helps preserve yield potential to help you find 5-15 more bushels an acre.*

Calculate the extra revenue potential you could find next season with Acuron.

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©2021 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some products may not be registered for sale or use in all states or counties. Please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Acuron is a Restricted Use Pesticide. Acuron® and the Syngenta logo are registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Verdict® is a registered trademark of BASF Corporation. Corvus® is a registered trademark of Bayer. Resicore® and SureStart® are registered trademarks of Corteva, Inc.

*Acuron yield advantage range based on 2016 Syngenta and university replicated trials comparing Acuron to Corvus®, Resicore®, SureStart® II and Verdict® applied preemergence and at full labeled rates. For more information on Acuron versus an individual product, ask your Syngenta representative.