Heading into the winter months means that most growers will be making their plans for the season ahead. Considerations are made for what types of weed pressures and disease problems growers have encountered over the previous year. UPL Technical Service Lead for Specialty Crops Joe Vassios said that now is the time when producers have an opportunity to get ahead of things.
“A problem that growers deal with every year is making sure that they have an effective weed management strategy going into next season including a solid preemergent program and a postemergent program as the season continues as well,” said Vassios.
Getting ahead of early weed pressures can help to alleviate some of the issues that may appear later in the season. Getting adequate coverage with preemergent materials offers a chance to save time and energy as the season progresses. Vassios said that UPL has a variety of products available that can help growers address weed pressures, such as Satellite HydroCap. “It’s an encapsulated pendimethalin formulation that can provide great control of grasses and then also a number of other troublesome broadleaf weeds such as your pigweeds and lambs quarters before they start to come up,” Vassios explained.
Attacking weed pressures before they become a bigger issue is an ideal approach to management. However, with some of the winter annuals starting to germinate, it may require more than a preemergent approach. A postemergent material will likely be a necessary addition to any weed management system to achieve well-rounded control for a variety of weeds.
“The addition of Lifeline into that as a postemergent option – which is our gluphosinate-based formulation – can also provide some extra control of those emerged winter annual weeds that have already started to grow up so that you have a clean start to the season with those pre- and postemergent options,” said Vassios.
Listen to the full episode below.