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Volunteer corn expected to “explode”

A crop specialist says growers are going to see a lot more volunteer corn during the next growing season in fields where they have switched to soybeans.

“In 2012, just the sheer number of acres of corn that didn’t end up going all the way to harvest or got plowed under eventually – volunteer corn in 2013 is expected to explode.”

Sara Thieding, with MANA Crop Protection, says farmers are going to have to deal with that volunteer corn.

“If you think about the acreage that’s out there, that’s where growers really need to understand the full spectrum of their other herbicide opportunities and making sure they’re not only using residuals but in what they’re using.”

She says growers will need to address glyphosate resistance and get “multiple modes of action on the ground,” being “very specific” in their herbicide selection.

AUDIO: Sara Thieding (1:00 mp3)