Label change for Beyond herbicide relating to plant back restrictions in PNW

Farm and Ranch June 21, 2010 There has been a label change for Beyond herbicide, the weed killer used in the Clearfield wheat production system. Joe Yenish, Washington State University Extension weed scientist, who talked about the supplemental label at a recent field day, said it specifically mentions Washington and selected counties in Idaho and Oregon.

Yenish: “And basically, functionally we are now limited to a 15-month plant back restriction to non-Clearfield varieties of wheat. That is probably not going to have much impact in the low rainfall area with the exception the need to plant back after winterkill or a poor fall stand, particularly where a fall application of Beyond was used. Bigger impact from that label change would be in our intermediate and high rainfall zones where the typical rotation would be to come back with a spring wheat following winter wheat and use of the Beyond would limit the growers from a spring wheat perspective, to Clearfield varieties, which there are not a lot of those available right now.”

From a straight up herbicide selectivity standpoint Yenish thinks the Clearfield system and Beyond is the best for goat grass. However;

Yenish: “If you are in those situations where you are over 20 to 30% dockage, Clearfield-Beyond is probably not the answer. You are going to want to knock that population down either by spring cropping, if that is an option, or other alternatives try to lower that seedbank, lower that intensity.”

Then clean up with Beyond and a Clearfield wheat.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.