New Technologies for Weed Control

LSU Extension Service weed specialist Dr. Donnie Miller at the Northeast Louisiana Research Station at St. Jo has been doing a lot of research into the use of 2-4-D and Dicamba combined for weed control.

“It will maximize yields in some of the programs we’re looking at, but obviously they’re not a silver bullet,” says Miller. “They’re going to be able to be combined with our current programs that have soil residual activity or best management practices.”

But Miller points out that’s where a lot of their research has been focused the last few years.

“We just want good control of broadleaf weeds and obviously with the glyphosate resistance in palmer amaranth and other weeds that are starting to pop up that we’re dealing with here in Louisiana, it’s a good tool for us to have to control these weeds in an overall resistance management program.”

Researchers have been looking at this combination of herbicides for several years now trying to find some of the answers “we know producers will have once these technologies do come on board,” according to Miller. “So we try to look at them in the various environmental scenarios and try to get as much information as we can over several years.”

(This report a service of the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board)