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Improving your 2025 weed control program for 2026
For many growers, harvest is one of the most gratifying times of the farming season. Despite the trials and tribulations of farming, harvest is a time to look back and be thankful for what you accomplished during the year. It is also a time to start thinking ahead, identifying areas where improvements might be made in preparation for next season.
Harvest also provides an opportunity to note yield levels and make detailed notes about points in fields where weeds may still persist that could require targeted herbicide applications in the spring — or even in the fall, a trend in which some growers are finding value.
“Harvest logistics may sometimes preclude fall herbicide applications, but some growers with whom I work are seeing benefits in the spring from these fall applications,” said Dennis Holland, market development specialist with Corteva Agriscience. “There are economic herbicide options that should be considered.”
When spring arrives
Be ready to jump on weed control early in the growing season. Use full labeled rates to maximize the effectiveness of each application and apply earlier than you might think necessary.
“Most of the time I advise putting out an application as early as V2 to V3,” Holland said. “The secret sauce is to get the product on the soil, not on the crop. That’s why earlier is always better than later and try to get that postemergence application out no longer than four weeks after the preemergence goes out.”
If you get planted in April, by the time you flip the calendar to May, soybeans and corn plants should be taking off. Making a sprayer pass with a reliable herbicide will help prevent seeds from the weed seedbank from emerging.
KEY POINT: Weeds are much more susceptible to herbicide applications when they are smaller.Smaller weeds also compete less with the crop for water and nutrients, reducing the risk of yield loss.
“I’ve seen farmers struggle with weed control because they think if weeds are not readily visible in their fields, there’s no need for a control application,” Holland said. “You want an effective herbicide program, applied during early crop growth stages, including the use of an overlapping residual, to control weeds all season and up to canopy closure.”
Optimizing nitrogen
In many parts of the Corn Belt, corn was planted earlier than normal this season. Ample heat units also helped push the crop ahead, positioning many growers for a timely fall anhydrous application.
“Fertilizers are a substantial economic input,” Holland said Getting the most benefit from that input can be more likely achieved if a proven nitrogen stabilizer is included in the tank,” Holland said. “One of the most successful products in this category over the last several decades continues to be N-Serve nitrogen stabilizer.”
Nitrapyrin, the active ingredient in N-Serve® nitrogen stabilizer, inhibits nitrification — preventing soil microbes from converting ammonium to nitrate, which is more prone to loss due to leaching or denitrification.
“The last thing a grower wants is to lose a portion of that important and expensive input,” Holland said. “That would most likely usher in the situation of having to make a ‘rescue’ nitrogen application to maintain yield potential.”
Limiting weed seed transfer
Weed control is not limited to herbicide programs. Controlling each field’s weed seedbank is crucial.
“Harvesters have so many nooks and crannies,” Holland said. “Although it’s nearly impossible to completely clean out all weed seeds that may be taken into a harvester, opening cleanout doors and traps is worth the effort to eliminate transferring weed seeds to unharvested fields.”
Log on to Corteva.com/us or connect with your Corteva Agriscience sales representative to learn how these crop protection solutions can deliver season-long weed control for better harvest efficiency and higher yield potential.
Do not fall-apply anhydrous ammonia south of Highway 16 in the state of Illinois. Always read and follow label directions.
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