Weather conditions this spring have delayed and continue to delay the timely herbicide burndown of winter vegetation that is conducted prior to planting crops in Mississippi. This delay in burndown presents challenges as planting time approaches.

Two important and time-sensitive items that deal with this dilemma have been posted on the Mississippi Crop Situation blog site. They are:

Burndown Scenarios for Mississippi Soybean by Dr. Jason Bond, MSU-DREC Research/Extension Weed Scientist, and Dr. Trent Irby, MSU Extension Soybean Specialist. In this article, the authors provide potential herbicide treatments for “No burndown herbicide applied to date”, “Burndown has been applied, but an additional application is required”, and “Planting after April 15".

Auxin Herbicide Plantback Restrictions by Dr. Bond. In this article, Dr. Bond discusses and presents plantback restrictions that must be observed when either 2,4-D or dicamba are part of the burndown mix.

I have combined these two articles into one post on the MSPB website for your convenience.

On the Weed Control Page of this website, I have posted a White Paper entitled “Residual Herbicides for Management of Herbicide-Resistant (HR) Palmer Amaranth”, which combines information in an MCS blog by Dr. Jason Bond entitled “Choices of Residual Herbicides in Mississippi Soybean” with information in a MAFES publication entitled “Herbicide Programs for Managing Glyphosate- and ALS-resistant Palmer Amaranth in Mississippi Soybean” by Dr. Tom Eubank.

I urge producers to check out these resources for guidelines that can be used to ensure the avoidance of problems that may result if burndown herbicides that conflict with intended planting date are used, and/or if residual herbicides are chosen to aid in the management of HR pigweed.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Mar. 2015, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net