Controlling Aquatic and Sedge Weeds in Zero-grade Rice Fields
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With his rice-producer clients growing rice on zero-grade fields or employing row rice or water-seeded production systems, independent crop consultant Rob Dedman specializes in different.
“We have those funky, odd aquatics and sedges to deal with, which is why Loyant herbicide plays a major part in my weed control program,” says Dedman of Rison, Arkansas.
No matter the rice production system, Dedman believes in on-time planting.
“I won’t let the calendar pass me by. If it stays wet during our ideal planting window, we’ll water-seed every acre to get the rice planted,” Dedman says.
Dedman comes out of the gate with a preemergence weed control treatment that includes Command and Sharpen herbicides. “We work hard to keep the weeds from breaking through because of the numerous resistance issues we face,” he says. “The best weed is the one I don’t see.”
For his water-seeded rice acres, Dedman’s first recommended postemergence weed control application will include RebelEX® herbicide to target aquatics such as ducksalad, redstem, sprangletop and eclipta.
“That’ll be right about the time I’ll get a permanent flood on the rice and fertilizer applications are made,” he says.
On drill-seeded rice, Dedman generally recommends a pre-flood spray of Loyant® herbicide in some combination with Clincher® SF herbicide and other tank-mixed herbicides.
“Loyant provides excellent control of sedges, especially ALS-resistant flatsedge,”— Rob Dedman
“We lean on Loyant a lot. About 80% of my program is a Loyant tank mix, and we do try to do as many herbicide applications as we can by ground, especially in our zero-grade rice. Making weed control applications by ground allows us to use higher volumes of water and get better herbicide coverage.”
For those growers with FullPage Rice Cropping System or CLEARFIELD® Production System, Dedman will add Preface and Postscript herbicides or Newpath and Beyond herbicides to the pre-flood tank mix.
“Loyant provides control of our aquatics, and it controls pigweed in our drill-seeded rice,” he says. “We also use a lot of Grasp SC in our tank mix to give us another mode of action and additional control of aquatics.”
Overlapping residuals is crucial in drill-seeded rice production systems.
“I’m very big on residuals. We want to go to the flood without a postemergence herbicide needed, although it doesn’t work out that way 95% of the time,” Dedman says. “ALS-resistant weeds are a battle we fight every day, but including residuals in our tank mix helps provide us with a lot of needed control.”
If a postemergence weed control treatment is needed, Dedman sprays Grandstand® R herbicide at midseason for indigo (northern jointvetch) and coffeebean (hemp sesbania) control.
™ ® Clincher, Dermacor, DuPont, Grandstand, Grasp, Loyant and RebelEX are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. ® Beyond, CLEARFIELD, Newpath and Sharpen are registered trademarks of BASF. Clincher® SF, Dermacor® X-100, Grandstand® R, Grasp® SC, Loyant® and RebelEX® are not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.
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