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Soybean researcher says not to plant too far ahead of the sprayer this year

A University of Wisconsin soybean specialist says with delays in planting, the weeds can potentially get ahead of the crops, so farmers shouldn’t plant too far ahead of the sprayer.

Shawn Conley tells Brownfield that getting a pre-emergence herbicide down is very important. “That will be the next challenge, is making sure we get out there and get those pre-emergence herbicides out and activated before water hemp starts to germinate and emerge to stay ahead of that troublesome weed.”

Conley says trying to battle weeds like water hemp after crops emerge is very difficult. “Most of the effective chemistries that we have available for water hemp control are a lot of pre-emergence herbicides, otherwise, we’re going to be focusing on a limited number of active ingredients or modes of action or sites of action that are post-emergence.”

Conley says Wisconsin farmers are only a week to ten days from seeing water hemp emerging with recent moisture and the return of warm temperatures.