Fall burndown with Distinct

November is typically a good month for fall burndown applications in the Southern portion of the Midwest. Where rain has occurred over the past couple of months, fall emerged weeds like chickweed, henbit, marestail, or mustard species become commonly found in no-till fields. Choosing to address these weeds in the spring may have some unintended consequences. Dense mats of winter annual weeds can cause for slower dry down in the spring prior to planting and also lead to soil temperatures staying cooler further into spring, leading to a delay in planting.

Using a fall herbicide can help remove these weeds before they become harder to control in the spring. Weeds like marestail become especially hard to control in the spring because of their larger taproot and growth habit in the spring months. 

BASF offers Distinct^® herbicide for fall herbicide applications in fields going to either corn or soybeans the following year. Distinct combines the power of two SOA for improved knockdown of commonly found winter annual broadleaf weeds. A commonly used tank mix partner would be glyphosate for control of fall emerged grasses and to assist with larger broadleaf weeds. The addition of 2,4-D is also common to add knockdown for emerged broadleaves. Distinct is helpful for knockdown in tank mixes with fall-residual herbicides including metribuzin and competitive ALS containing herbicides. See the photo below where a sprayer skip occurred in the fall.

In the Southern Midwest, targeting your fall burndown between Halloween and Thanksgiving is typically a good window for optimal herbicide activity. This window is usually late enough that most winter annuals have started to emerge, yet early enough that knockdown products like Distinct still have good weather for optimum weed control.