If you’re considering switching from branded to generic herbicides, make sure you look at the big picture before you decide.
In the never-ending quest to drive down operational expenses, utilities, DOTs, and other organizations must constantly assess the cost of goods like weed and brush control chemicals. It’s no surprise, therefore, that generic herbicides appear – at least at first glance – to be an easy way to trim a few dollars out of an operational budget. But for all the temptations offered by a low purchase price, it’s worth taking a step back and looking at the big picture when you’re deciding between branded and generic products.
Price. Price is likely the motivation for most vegetation managers who are seeking generic alternatives to name-brand products. And while the purchase price for generic products is typically lower than that of its name-brand counterpart, remember the purchase price is only that…the up-front cost. As you’ll see below, differences in active ingredient concentrations can affect application rates1, potentially impacting total costs.
Chemical form of the active ingredient. To gain registration in the U.S., the generic product must have the same active ingredient as the branded product. But there’s a catch – the active ingredient in the generic product is not required to be in the same form as in the branded product.2 Glyphosate, for example, is commercially available in several different chemical forms – as potassium, diammonium or monoammonium salts. If the active ingredient in the generic product is in a different form than the branded product you have been using, you risk not knowing whether the different form will work as well on your brush or weed species or be compatible with your current application equipment. 2
In addition, while the active ingredients of a name-brand and generic product may have the exact same molecular formula, they could still be isomers of each other; that is, the molecules could be arranged differently2, potentially impacting performance against specific weed species, or under specific conditions.
Application rates. Beyond just the chemical form and isomer, rates of the active ingredient also can differ between generic and branded products, meaning you could have to use more of the generic product1 to achieve a similar result to that of the branded chemical, potentially negating some of the cost savings.
Adjuvants, surfactants, other inert ingredients. While federal regulations require that generic and branded products have the same active ingredient, generics aren’t required to have the same inert ingredients2 – and this can really catch a vegetation manager out. How? Think about this: Many of the most commonly used agricultural herbicides are applied preemergence, meaning they’re applied before weeds ever emerge from the ground. Alternatively, herbicides used for vegetation management are typically applied to actively growing weeds or brush. Therefore, differences in surfactants and adjuvants – the ingredients that help the chemical “stick” to or penetrate the targeted plant and spread across the leaves or plant surfaces – can have a significant impact in vegetation management or other postemergence applications.
Beyond that, the differences in inert ingredients also can have an adverse impact on handling, mixing or tank-mix compatibility. The bottom line? If you’ve worked over the years to fine-tune your vegetation management program with specific branded herbicide products, switching products could send you and your program back to square one.
It’s easy to think of generic herbicides as low-cost carbon copies of their name-brand counterparts. But for utilities, DOTs and other organizations whose weed-control programs are very visible – and may therefore fall under public scrutiny – there may be a risk to using products from unfamiliar manufacturers.
At Corteva Agriscience, we understand the unique conditions under which vegetation management professionals operate, and we’re committed to providing the tools and expertise the industry needs to ensure the reliability of critical infrastructure. If you’d like to learn more about the Corteva vegetation management portfolio, reach out to your local Corteva VM specialist.
1Jett McFalls, Young-Jae Yi, Ming-Han Li, Scott Senseman, and Beverly Storey, “Evaluation of Generic and Brand Herbicides: Technical Report,” Texas A&M Transportation Institute (2015) Report No. FHWA/TX-15/0-6733-1.
2Fabian Menalled, “Generic vs Brand Name Products: Are All Herbicides Created Equal?,” Montana State University (2005),
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