When harvest is complete and combines and cotton pickers are put under the shed for the winter, you can be sure farmers clean them up first. No farmer would consider parking his machine for 9 months without first thoroughly cleaning it up.
Doesn’t it make sense to treat land the same way? A few years ago we first heard the slogan, “Start clean; stay clean.” Now, we are aware that applying herbicides in the fall bring added benefits that outweigh the cost; therefore add to the slogan, “Start clean; stay clean; finish clean.”
Fall burndown starts your field clean in the spring.
Benefits of a “finish clean” application include:
- Soil will warm faster in the spring making earlier planting possible with better and more vigorous early stands.
- In conservation tillage, preplant herbicides will be applied directly to soil.
- In conventional tillage, soil is in better order and one pass with a disc is more effective reducing expensive trips across the field.
- Aid with troublesome marestail.
- Control of other winter weeds that provide habitat for nematodes and insects that vector diseases.
- Moisture and fertility is reserved for the crop.
There are several materials available for use in a fall cleanup application. An excellent choice for this application is Leadoff ® at 1.5 oz + glyphosate + Spectrum, applied post harvest. Add 2,4-D or Dicamba for help with marestail. Ideal timing is the November to December time frame.
Weedy crops are everywhere. We have the tools so that does not have to happen every year. Timing does not cost money. Playing catch up with weeds does cost money. Let’s use the fall to clean up fields.
FINISH CLEAN!
For more information concerning fall herbicide applications, contact your local Coastal Representative.
Information provided by Coastal AgroBusiness, Inc.
