Air November 3, 2004

Thank you Jerry, and good morning everyone.

While everyone still certainly has odds and ends of harvest or wheat planting that they are trying to finish up, things are certainly winding down. But that doesn't mean that there isn't work that needs to be done.

First of all, since we haven't seemed to have had any really hard freezes yet, we can be out treating some of those really tough weed problems and what I am thinking about here are field bindweed and musk thistle. Field bindweed is a tough deep rooted perennial that is busily storing food reserves into it's roots and it will continue to do so until we start getting temperatures down into the lower 20s. It looks like that's a ways away yet, so take advantage of this opportunity to treat patches in stubble fields, brome grass or pastures. If you've got bindweed in alfalfa you've got a special problem and we probably need to talk! At this time of year you can use 2,4-D, one of the dicamba or glyphosate products, you can even use Tordon. Of course, exactly what you use is going to depend on where you are treating and what the crop may be next year. But even straight 2,4-D applied at the rate of about 1 to 2 quarts per acre in the fall will still provide in excess of 75% control of established field bindweed. Using some of the tank mixes, we can push that control up to or over 90%. See, you really can control field bindweed if you put your mind to it! Musk thistle is an aggressive biennial plant, that sprouts in the fall and blooms in the spring, that while diminishing somewhat thanks to biological controls, is still plenty abundant enough to warrant treating! Most of the time we're going to be fighting this one in pastures. This is a good time of year to drive through pastures with a tractor and sprayer or a four wheeler and sprayer. Without a doubt, the product of choice for fall treatment is going to be Tordon mixed with 2,4-D. This combination, sprayed in the fall will not only control the thistles that are up, but any late germinating rascals, as could happen this year, will be controlled by the Tordon. An added advantage of the fall treatment is the lack of problems from drift. I don't like pasture wide broadcast treatment for musk thistles. Most of the time they are found in areas and you probably know where those areas are. Take advantage of this great fall weather and lets get some of these pesky weeds under control.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2004.

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