Grass is Not Your Crop’s Friend
Jun 11, 2025
Neither corn or soybeans like weed competition, and grasses compete mightily, especially in lighter soils. Herbicides to fight grasses and volunteer corn can help protect yield.
Mike Slater, ag sales rep in Isanti, said, “Our premium grass herbicide product is Sequence®,” which is a Syngenta® formulation of s-metolachlor and glyphosate. Sequence offers premium residual for grass along with burndown in corn.
“We also have some ‘budget blends’ available that can be tank mixed if growers want to go that way,” said Slater. Buccanner® and some generic options can be mixed.
In soybeans, volunteer corn is best dealt with using Volunteer™. Slater noted that mixing Volunteer with Enlist® applications sometimes results in “tank antagonism,” so it’s important to adjust the rate upward. The typical rate in a tank mix of Volunteer with Roundup® or Liberty® is 4-6 oz./ac. However, with Enlist, up that rate to 8-10 oz./ac. Also use the higher rate if the weeds are taller than 2-3 inches.
Growers with sandy soils, such as those in Federated’s Isanti service area, have found proso millet, with its abundant seeds (pictured), to be an increasingly difficult grass to control; it requires careful management.
“It takes many years of control to eradicate proso millet, or to get it manageable,” said Slater. Some fields may need grass herbicide applications 3-4 times per year.
Crops on any soil will lack nutrients and/or moisture under heavy grass pressure. Talk to your Federated Agronomist to determine which grass herbicide options should be on your to-do list this season.
Mike Slater, ag sales rep in Isanti, said, “Our premium grass herbicide product is Sequence®,” which is a Syngenta® formulation of s-metolachlor and glyphosate. Sequence offers premium residual for grass along with burndown in corn.
“We also have some ‘budget blends’ available that can be tank mixed if growers want to go that way,” said Slater. Buccanner® and some generic options can be mixed.
In soybeans, volunteer corn is best dealt with using Volunteer™. Slater noted that mixing Volunteer with Enlist® applications sometimes results in “tank antagonism,” so it’s important to adjust the rate upward. The typical rate in a tank mix of Volunteer with Roundup® or Liberty® is 4-6 oz./ac. However, with Enlist, up that rate to 8-10 oz./ac. Also use the higher rate if the weeds are taller than 2-3 inches.
Growers with sandy soils, such as those in Federated’s Isanti service area, have found proso millet, with its abundant seeds (pictured), to be an increasingly difficult grass to control; it requires careful management.
“It takes many years of control to eradicate proso millet, or to get it manageable,” said Slater. Some fields may need grass herbicide applications 3-4 times per year.
Crops on any soil will lack nutrients and/or moisture under heavy grass pressure. Talk to your Federated Agronomist to determine which grass herbicide options should be on your to-do list this season.