Weeds like this have become a rare sight in Adam Schwering’s Enlist E3® soybean fields. The application of Enlist Duo® herbicide is causing them to wilt, shrivel and disappear, leaving nice, clean rows of soybeans.
Enlist E3® Soybeans Pass the Eye Test, Controlling Persistent Marestail
Farmers driving down the state highway past Adam Schwering’s fields of Enlist E3® soybeans are taking notice. They’re seeing weed-free soybeans in an area where marestail continues to ravage almost every field.
“They’ll drive by our field and ask why our fields are so clean,” Schwering says. “We tell them it’s because of Enlist Duo herbicide. They’re getting more curious about trying it.”
Schwering is about as experienced with the Enlist™ weed control system as any farmer in the country. He’s been using the system for five years and has 450 acres dedicated to seed production for Enlist E3 soybean varieties this year.
Schwering likes the weed control he’s gotten from Enlist Duo® herbicide, including the way he was able to suppress the weed seed bank. He can see the difference in weed growth year over year.
“The product works,” he says. “This year, you can see where we sprayed Enlist Duo last year and where we didn’t. The weeds are in the untreated area but not in the field where we sprayed Enlist Duo.”
The biggest challenges the Schwerings face are rampant marestail and defiant giant ragweed. They use a program approach that involves a burndown with generic 2,4-D, glyphosate and Sonic® herbicide as a residual. They come back postemergence with Enlist Duo, which combines 2,4-D choline featuring Colex-D® technology with glyphosate for two modes of action.
“We use Enlist Duo on top to take care of our problem weeds,” Schwering says. “We’ve talked about Enlist One herbicide – the straight-goods 2,4-D choline – but we haven’t tried it yet. We’re thinking about whether glufosinate would help, but it has a narrower spray window than Enlist Duo.”
Schwering sees interest growing in the Enlist system and Enlist E3 soybeans.
“Guys around here will likely try it now that Enlist E3 soybeans are approved,” he says. “I have neighbors who need to use it because of the weeds they’re struggling to control.”
Those neighbors who drive by Schwering’s Enlist E3 soybeans can see that the Enlist weed control system passes the eye test. That’s a spark for more growers in that part of the country to check out Enlist E3 soybeans for the 2020 season.
