Citing 3 Big Reasons, Illinois Farm is Sold on Enlist E3® Soybeans
Opportunities and options: That’s what Reuben Koehler sees with the Enlist™ weed control system and Enlist E3® soybeans.
“I’m really impressed with Enlist,” Koehler says. “I see a lot of good things from the Enlist system.”
Koehler is a Mycogen Seeds dealer and works with Helena Chemical selling crop protection products. He works hard to keep up on all new technologies. And he tries to get practical experience with them. He helps his dad and three of his four brothers on the family farm.
“We have an 80-acre field of Enlist E3 soybeans,” he says. “We’re looking for herbicide technologies to control some difficult weeds: waterhemp, giant ragweed, marestail, velvetleaf and lambsquarters. I intentionally put the Enlist E3 soybeans in some difficult ground to see how they’d respond.”
After a slow start due to wet weather, they’ve taken off. “Like many soybeans around here this year, they just struggled early, but now they’re up and going,” he says.
1. The Enlist Herbicide options.
The Enlist system is giving Koehler and his customers preemergence and postemergence application options they’ve never had before.
Koehler knows the value of applying multiple herbicide modes of action to control weeds and curb the development of herbicide resistance. His family uses a burndown consisting of Antares Prime, Enlist One® herbicide, glyphosate and two methylated seed oils.
They rely on preemergence herbicides to keep fields clean until they can apply postemergence. Because they no-till soybeans, they sometimes face a small window to get preemergent herbicides applied before planting. Long plant-back restrictions present problems.
“I like Enlist E3 soybeans because we can apply Enlist herbicides the same day we plant if we need to,” Koehler says. “We need a product we can spray right before we plant. It’s a great option for our farm and for the farmers I supply.”
This year, his preemergence application held weeds down for 60 days. That allowed him to come back postemergence with Enlist One herbicide tank-mixed with glyphosate, Warrant and Request.
“I’m impressed with the herbicide program,” he says. “We can use Enlist herbicides for burndown, preemergence, postemergence. It offers a lot of options.”
2. A technology ready for commercial use.
“Corteva has done its research and has the data to back up the Enlist system,” Koehler says. “They’ve gone down the right road to research and launch the product the right way.”
Koehler notes how Corteva has been able to develop soybean varieties with agronomics, yield and weed control technology in a number of maturities.
“I feel the yield with be there,” he says. “They look good in the field now. Corteva has their ducks in a row.”
3. A company that works with customers.
Koehler also has been impressed with the help and education he’s gotten from Mycogen and Enlist experts.
“Our Mycogen rep is an awesome communicator,” Koehler says. “He’s a face-to-face guy. He helps with the plots. If he doesn’t have the answer, he quickly gets me in contact with the right person.”
This enabled Koehler to help his customers make successful applications.
“I was aware of how to handle applications of Enlist herbicides,” he says. “I helped a couple of customers. We were careful, and resources were always available if we needed them.”
Big plans for 2020
Koehler sees a bright future for Enlist E3® soybeans.
“I think Enlist will be a huge player for us,” he says. “I hope to get near 40% market share from customers next year. Guys are in the right frame of mind to try it. A lot of them are on board already.”
