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2005 Corn Weed Control Guide

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2005 Soybean Weed Control Guide

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8 ways to reduce atrazine runoff

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM
John Pocock


ANOTHER CROP season means another season of atrazine application. Farmers and custom applicators need to take steps to protect sensitive watersheds from atrazine runoff or risk losing the right to use the popular weed-control chemical.

Bill Johnson, Purdue University Extension weed scientist, says taking simple precautions will help cut atrazine runoff. Small watersheds located close to surface waters tend to have the most problems with atrazine runoff, he says. Runoff also tends to occur in areas that have clay-pan soils or soils that are unreceptive to water infiltration.

Johnson gives the following eight tips for reducing atrazine runoff from these areas:

  1. Choose a postemergence rather than a soil-applied product. Although the window of application is narrow, atrazine rates are cut 30 to 75% if application is delayed until weeds emerge. Then the herbicide is placed directly on the weed foliage.

  2. Avoid applications on saturated soils just before heavy rains to prevent loss of atrazine.

  3. Incorporate applications lightly if soil-applied because atrazine moves in solution with water and not by attaching to soil particles.

  4. Avoid applications near tile inlets, unless you incorporate or maintain at least 30% crop residue cover.

  5. Use tiling in your fields to reduce runoff. Tiles encourage water and atrazine infiltration into the soil where the atrazine can be absorbed into plant roots.

  6. Establish grass buffer strips along water bodies and ditches to help filter atrazine from water flowing across fields.

  7. Use tankmix products that provide good weed control with a reduced atrazine content. Purdue found that a low-rate atrazine premix that is tankmixed with another broadleaf herbicide reduced atrazine applied by 30 to 50% without hurting weed control.

  8. Read and follow directions on atrazine herbicide product labels.

Purdue University recently produced a best-management publication titled “Atrazine Use and Weed Management Strategies to Protect Surface Water Quality,” which discusses ways to reduce the amount of atrazine and other crop protection products that find their way into water sources. The publication is available online at btny.purdue.edu/Pubs/PPP/PPP-67.pdf.







 

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