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Spring warm up brings return of winter annuals

An agronomist with AgriGold says the recent warm temperatures have triggered the return of winter annual weeds.

Brian Weihmeir, who covers central Illinois, says species like henbit and chickweed can germinate quickly.

“They can create a mat in our field, and it can a lot of times cause problems with those soils not drying out.”  He says, “If we have really excessive vegetation with those winter annuals it can cause an uptick in some insect pressure, especially looking at cutworms and army worms.”

He tells Brownfield pre-planting scouting trips can help farmers better prepare.

“Just seeing what that weed pressure is like.”  He says, “From there, if we do have some heavier weed pressures, we might have to change up our herbicide program, be a little bit more aggressive with our spring burn down, or in some cases, it might have to be a little bit more proactive with some of those tillage practices.”

Weihmeir says any tillage should be done only in correct field conditions.

AUDIO: Brian Weihmeir – AgriGold agronomist