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Lancaster, OH | When you get down to it, this is the real benefit to the farmer with the herbicide tolerant crops. Sure, sometimes we can control weeds better with Roundup than some other products but most times we can get a clean field regardless. The real issue is the crop safety. Remember Lasso vs. Dual @4.9 bu./acre? That was one example.
It's a real balancing act. Getting weed control is paramount so that has to come first--lots of choices. Application method is next--use what fits your time and practices.
I suggest that you rely on the herbicide and herbicide tolerant crops after that. Unless you are looking for premiums, etc. RRSB & RRC offer a lot of benefits in crop safety. That said, any product chosen should be pretty safe. It is usually adverse conditions, application, or seed placement that contributes most often to bad injury. What I tracked when I did that was mostly the day to day applications and their effects and I measured against RR. 75% of the time the Roundup on RRC had a higher yield than whatever was used on the same corn against it and the difference was more than 6 Bushels. Only a couple of times out of over 100 tests did I actually see injury.
Choose based on weeds, rotations, crop stage and conditions. Pay particularly close attention to conditions. | |
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herbicides causing a yield hit
