To get the best weed control on your farm, you have to use the best products for your corn fields AND make sure you’re mixing those products appropriately. Getting the right tank mix can make all the difference. Brandon Walter, the U.S. product manager for corn herbicides at Corteva Agriscience, has six tips for success.
- Read All Labels — Walter’s first piece of advice, and one of the most important, is to read all product labels. That way you can be sure all the chemistries you’re planning to put together are compatible. This is important for your safety and to avoid ending up with a mess on your hands.
- Perform a Jar Test to Ensure Compatibility — After you’ve read the labels, take your precaution one step further. Walter advises performing a jar test: Mix a small amount of each of the products you want to use in a clear jar. This will allow you to see whether the products are compatible and whether your mixing order is correct.
- Shake Things Up — Once you know for sure your products are compatible, it’s time to start tank-mixing. As you go through the blending steps, Walter says, you should make sure to shake, or agitate, the various chemistries before adding them to the tank. Also, agitate the mixture itself throughout the process to keep things from settling.
- Get the Right Order — Now is the time to make sure you have your products going into the mix in the right order. Walter advises:
1. Half the required water for mixture
2. Ammonium sulfate
3. Pre-slurries of water-soluble packets
4. Wettable powders/dry flowables
5. Compatibility agents
6. Dispersed liquid formulations (these include suspension concentrates and
emulsions in water)
7. Liquid drift retardants
8. Other liquid formulations (these include emulsifiable concentrates and oil
dispersions)
9. Adjuvants
10. Micronutrients
11. Remaining water
- Apply — Walter says you should apply as soon as you’ve completed the mixing process. Don’t let the solution sit for an extended time. He says it’s a good idea to keep agitating the mixture during application.
- Take Good Notes — Walter advises that you should take detailed notes of your tank mixes each season. Write down the solutions you used, the order you added them and even the little details like the water you used. Keep track of what went well and what went wrong. Then you can use that information to get the best possible tank mixes in the future.
Walter’s first tip bears repeating: Read all product labels before you start the mixing process. If you’re looking for labels for the corn herbicides from Corteva Agriscience this season, you can find them on Corteva.us