Herbicide failures may not always be due to the product or its application, but rather the quality of water used and the presence or absence of adjuvants, according to experts Greg Dahl and Joe Ikley. This was outlined in an article published on Apr. 16, where they explained that skipping required adjuvants can significantly reduce weed control results.
Dahl, a retired research manager at WinField United, said after reviewing thousands of university trials that omitting an adjuvant can cause a reduction in weed control ranging from 30% to 90%. “That’s a pretty big sting,” Dahl said. He also pointed out that using the wrong class of adjuvant could decrease performance by up to 50%, while opting for lower-quality products might result in a 25% drop in efficacy. “In the world of weed control, ‘close enough’ often isn’t,” he said.
Ikley, who is a weed specialist at North Dakota State University Extension, highlighted another issue: hard water containing calcium and magnesium can bind with weak-acid herbicides like glyphosate, forming particles plants cannot absorb. “Plants don’t eat rocks,” Ikley said. Both experts recommend using ammonium sulfate (AMS) as a dedicated water conditioner to neutralize hard water effects and restore herbicide performance.
University trials have shown that most convenience blends do not outperform the standard combination of AMS plus nonionic surfactant for optimal results. “A few of the water conditioners do quite well,” Ikley reported. “The rest don’t perform as well as AMS plus surfactant.” Farmers are advised by Dahl and Ikley to test their spray water before selecting or changing adjuvants.
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