Premix Herbicide Active Ingredients Offer Greater Efficacy Together
In 2018, soybean and cotton farmers were contending with glyphosate-, ALS- and PPO-resistant weeds, especially Palmer amaranth and waterhemp, writes Michael Santos at Syngenta’s Thrive magazine. Residual herbicides and multiple post-emergence applications followed by additional expenditures of time and money on mechanical removal of weeds were often necessary. Commodity prices were low; margins were tight; and growers had little room for error on input decisions.
Although commodity prices have taken a turn and are at historic highs in 2021, weed resistance continues to persist and grow throughout the U.S.
One notable difference is the availability of premix formulations. “The need to apply multiple herbicide sites of action simultaneously to manage our most troublesome weedy pests is extremely important — premixes can help ensure that a grower achieves this goal,” says Stanley Culpepper, Ph.D., extension weed scientist at the University of Georgia. “For example, if dicamba and Dual Magnum (S-metolachlor) are applied as a premix, then that ensures both a post-emergence and residual product with activity against our most troublesome pest, Palmer amaranth, is used, making for a more sustainable program.”
Pete Eure, herbicide technical product lead with Syngenta, lists some of the fundamental benefits premixes bring to farmers. The packaging is more convenient, as farmers don’t have to store multiple jugs. Premixes also reduce the margin for error because applicators aren’t measuring and tank-mixing various products in the field or at the shop. The active ingredient (AI) components are formulated so farmers don’t have to worry about compatibility issues. In addition to all these advantages, premixes can target the same weed at multiple sites of action, so if the weed exhibits resistance at one site, the product may still be effective at another site.
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