06/26/08 A new grass herbicide from Dow AgroSciences

Farm and Ranch June 26. 2008 POWERFLEX is a new winter wheat herbicide from Dow AgroSciences that provides grassy weed control and also has broadleaf weed activity. Oregon State University weed scientist Dan Ball has worked with POWERFLEX and says the herbicide has some properties that growers might be interested in looking at. Ball: "For instance, it seems at least in our limited trials and the data I have seen that the down brome control is quite good and still has the short crop rotation restrictions. We have seen with our experimental plots very good crop safety across a wide range of environments. It also has a spectrum of weed control I think is interesting and might have a fit for some growers such as Italian ryegrass and wild oats." Ball says fall application is generally best. POWERFLEX is Group II chemistry and is an ALS inhibitor like all the other in-crop grassy weed herbicides so Ball emphasizes that resistance management is important. Ball: "You need to maintain a high level of control when you are out of winter wheat, which would be in the fallow period, or if you are growing pulse crops or brassica crops you really need to stay on top of the brome problem in all phases of your farming operation and not just rely on the one herbicide you may have available in-crop." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.