2019 has been a very challenging year from several aspects, one component that will last several years has been the variability in weed control and resulting weed seed production. Here are ten lessons I have learned or have had reinforced this year.

1) Applying a burn-down the first opportunity you get does not mean it is early, middle of June burn-downs need a different approach than a May 1 burndown.

2) Weeds that are knee high when a lot of other weeds are waist high are not considered “small” weeds, for the most part the knee-high weeds are still way beyond most herbicide labels, less than perfect control should be expected.

3) Every field in southwestern Ontario has glyphosate resistant weeds in it, some fields have lower populations and less glyphosate resistant species, but they are there. The grower on the right used the technology in his Xtend soybeans for a quality burn-down the grower on the right opted for another herbicide option that was less effect on glyphosate resistant giant ragweed.

4) Your first herbicide pass in the spring is your best chance at controlling weeds.

5) Fall burn-down is awesome and worth every penny!

6) When it says four hours rain-fast on a dicamba label they actually mean five plus. We have been spoiled with glyphosate the past several years where basically if you got the field finished before the rain the glyphosate almost always works, this does not hold true for dicamba I have seen rain events three to four hours after application provide poor control.

Left side had rain three hours after application right side was sprayed two days later with no rain within a day after application.

7) Highest label rates are required for larger weeds and if a label says to use surfactants for better control put them in too.

8) Water volumes matter, some herbicides require high water volumes, sometimes cutting rates will provide satisfactory control, but when you only get one good chance for control it’s not worth the risk.

9) Multiple modes of effect action work way better that one mode. Using tank mixes that complement each other provides superior control of hard to kill weeds, while using products that antagonize each other do the opposite. The more modes of actions in a program the less regrowth we see in tough to control weeds.

10)  When over 90 per cent of your fields have great weed control under extremely difficult conditions, be thankful the herbicides did as good as they did and figure out what worked well and what didn’t and learn from that.

We have been in uncharted territory in southwestern Ontario since last fall having to deal with several issues never experienced before, learning from the challenges that have been faced will provide a more resilient and productive future.