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Several reasons to manage weeds in the fall

Farmers finishing soybean harvest are encouraged to take steps now to manage weeds.

Ron Geis with Corteva Agriscience says weeds like marestail are much more difficult to control in the spring if not dealt with during the fall.

“And when possible, a fall burndown application is a good idea and there’s several reasons for that. One, weeds are generally smaller in the fall, making them easier to control.”

He tells Brownfield herbicides also work better on winter annuals and biennials by “working with nature” in the fall.

“So as plants go into dormancy, it takes the reserves from the leaves down to the roots. And if we have a herbicide going with this natural movement, we will have excellent control.”

Whereas in the spring, Geis says weeds are taking reserves up from the roots while farmers attempt to move herbicides down.

He adds another reason to manage weeds in the fall is because several winter annuals act as hosts for soybean cyst nematode.

Geis made these comments during an upcoming Managing for Profit on Brownfield, a content partnership with Corteva Agriscience.