David Underwood raises cotton, corn and soybeans in central North Carolina. He takes a proactive approach to weed control, carefully monitoring each field. He’s using the Enlist® system in cotton for the second year. As the primary applicator, he’s been impressed by the on-target application and weed control provided by Enlist™ herbicides.
David Underwood grows more than 1,000 acres of cotton on his North Carolina farm. He plants several hundred acres of PhytoGen® cottonseed, including PhytoGen brand PHY 340 W3FE and PHY 330 W3FE. Both varieties feature the Enlist® cotton trait.
“We had a weed issue with Palmer amaranth on land we inherited,” Underwood explains. “We knew it would be tough to clean up, but we are trying to be proactive this year.”
Underwood applied Enlist One® herbicide in a tank mix as part of his pest and weed management strategy.
“It handled the weeds. It did a really great job,” Underwood says. “The cotton is looking really good.”
This is the second year Underwood has planted PhytoGen cotton varieties with the Enlist® trait and used Enlist herbicides in a program approach for weed control. In 2017, he applied Enlist Duo® herbicide and saw firsthand how it stayed on target to control problem weeds. With a cornfield 30 inches from his Enlist cotton, Underwood wanted to see how well the herbicide would stay on target. To find out, he turned off the fence-row nozzle on his sprayer and let Enlist Duo go to work on the redroot pigweed. He took detailed notes to document the application and closely watched the results.
“The wind was blowing 3 mph toward the corn. Enlist Duo controlled the pigweed about 10 inches past the end of the last nozzle, but it did not touch anything beyond that,” he says. “If you follow the label, run the right pressure with the right nozzle, the herbicide will stay where it’s supposed to.”
Underwood makes herbicide applications himself and keeps the label in the sprayer with him so he can refer to it if he has questions. At this point in the season, he says, his Enlist cotton is the cleanest cotton he has ever had. He plans to continue scouting his fields and will watch for late-season weed flushes. If needed, he may come back with a second application.
“We like the versatility of the Enlist system,” Underwood says. “We like that we can mix Enlist One with glufosinate. There are several different ways you can go for weed control.”
Enlist crop
Cotton
Problem weeds
Palmer amaranth, Redroot pigweed
Management practices
Nonirrigated