Weed control guide now includes data for popcorn growers

The 2006 Weed Control Guide for Ohio and Indiana is a comprehensive reference for row crop, forage, and for the first time, popcorn producers, said Bill Johnson, a Purdue Extension weed specialist and one of the publication's contributing writers.

"Indiana is a major popcorn growing state and one of the most common comments we’ve gotten over the years is that we don't have a good weed control guide for popcorn," he said.

The new 15-page popcorn section is tailored for popcorn producers and focuses on the herbicides labeled for use with their crop.

"So far this is a well-received addition to the guide," Johnson said.

Purdue and Ohio State were the first two states in the major corn and soybean growing regions to team up for a weed control guide.

"We’re combining the expertise of two different institutions," Johnson said. "Our weed control problems are similar, and quite frankly it made sense to combine and try to minimize the cost associated with this."

Johnson joined fellow weed specialists Glenn Nice and Tom Bauman of Purdue and Ohio State Extension specialists Mark Loux and Jeff Stachler to produce the 191-page weed control guide.

In addition to the popcorn section, the weed guide has sections for corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, small grains, forages and grass pastures. The guide features herbicide efficacy ratings, label rates and restriction comments and includes a weed response table.

"User comments tell us the most useful things are the herbicide efficacy tables," Johnson said. "If you know your field has a specific weed infestation and you wanted to pick a series of products that would work in that situation, you can go to a herbicide efficacy table and determine how well different products work."

The guide isn't all about chemicals. Two additional chapters focus on problem weeds and cultural weed control.

"You're never going to have a well-planned weed management program without considering not only the chemical, but also the cultural things that you can do," he said. "Weeds are very adaptable, and we need to try to be smarter than the weeds."

The 2006 Weed Control Guide for Ohio and Indiana is updated every year to include the newest herbicides and remove old ones. The guide can be downloaded or a printed version is available for $7.50 by calling (614) 292-1607.

Writer: Kay Hagen, (765) 494-6682, kjh@purdue.edu

Source: Bill Johnson, (765) 494-4656, wgj@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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