Fall Valor Application— FAQ

Fall is the best time to prepare your fields for the next growing season. In my geography I see a lot of different practices from tillage, residue management, fall fertilizer, to fall herbicide applications. With all this being said I would like to take a minute to answer some frequently asked question about applying Valor in the fall for residual broadleaf control in the spring of 2025.

Some of the most common questions I receive are:
 

When can I start applying Valor this fall?

The easy quick answer is when soil temps are below 50 degrees. Keep in mind if you plan to any tillage or residue management, do so prior to applying Valor. Applying Fall Valor, should be the last step in growing season 2024.
 

What are the Valor use rates, as well as cropping rotational options?

My recommendation is not to exceed 4 oz per acre with a fall application. Here is a quick reference guide for your cropping rotational options are at a 2-4 oz fall applied use rate.
 

How well does Valor work in a heavy residue situation? What can you do to increase efficacy in that situation?

Valor does not bind to residue making it perfect for no-till and higher residue situations. With a little moisture snow or rain the Valor will make soil contact. Use at least 20 GPA to help increase efficacy in those fields with heavier crop residue. 15 GPA can be used for all other applications.
 

What is the ideal water droplet size?

Valor is a contact herbicide and enjoys a smaller droplet size for burndown activity. Residual use applications utilize the nozzles you would like to use for other pre-emergence products. Again, coverage is key so don’t use flood jets nozzles or other larger droplet sized nozzles that have the potential to leave larger gaps between the droplets.
 

Do you need to tank mix Valor with glyphosate/adjuvants if your primary use is residual activity?

My recommendation is yes. It is important to use a broadleaf herbicide such as 2,4-D or dicamba as well as glyphosate with the appropriate adjuvants to get a good kill on actively growing plants. Fall is the best time to gain control on hard to kill weeds. This will help the Valor provide the residual control we are seeking to gain.
 

How does fall Valor fit into a weed control program (does it limit what we can spray next spring?)

Valor is a very flexible herbicide and does not limit our application options next spring. As always follow label instructions for your product of choice.

As a final note, Valor has worked very well for a long time in North Dakota. As we see, herbicide resistant weeds are getting harder to control. Let’s keep in mind we can also add other Modes of Action with Valor this fall to assist us. Fierce EZ is a great Valor/Pyroxasulfone premix option for added residual control of many grass species.

I wish everyone a happy Fall season!
 
 
Mike Ryckman
Valent Territory Account Manager North Dakota/ Northeast Montana


Picture taken May 16th, 2024 near Velva, ND. Left side of the field received 4 oz of Valor early November 2023 and the right side was untreated.
 

Where Can I Plant Lentils?

One of the most profitable crops we have in our rotations in dryland Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana is lentils. Lentils are more prone to herbicide damage than pretty much any other crop we work with in our trade territory. That is part of the reason that we are limited on our options for herbicides that are labeled for lentils and a major issue with herbicide carry over with other herbicides used in previous crops. Herbicide carry over that causes crop injury will be even worse in high pH soils along with limited rainfall, which are both common in most of our trade territory. Most of the products with plant-back restrictions are products that we use to control either perennial weeds like Canada thistle, or some of the really tough to kill weeds in crop. The main active that we use to control Canada thistle in cereals is clopyralid which is the active in Stinger, or is a combination with other actives in Curtail, Widematch, Perfectmatch, and Weld. In many cases, we recommend these products the year after you have raised a pulse crop, just because we know that you will not be (or should not be) going back to a pulse crop the next year.

It is normal to have a weed problem following pulse crops just because of the lack of weed control options in pulse crops, so we use this as the opportunity to use these products. This is the same for Everest 3.0 being used following a pulse crop to help clean up green foxtail with a group 2 herbicide since we rely so heavily on the group one grass herbicides in pulse crops, InVigor canola, along with over-using it in our cereals for years. Talinor is one of the best products for narrow leaf hawksbeard, but you will not be able to raise lentils the next year after using Talinor. Pixxaro is another product that you will not be able to follow with lentils with but is one of the better products for wild buckwheat, marestail and kochia that is not resistant to fluroxypyr products. When Huskie was first labeled, they did not have rotation restrictions going back to lentils, but after only one season they changed their label to 18 months because of crop response, so that is also a no go before lentils as well.

Spartan is another product that is not labeled in lentils but is labeled in peas. Do not make the mistake of using it in lentils or you will have major problems. We also saw problems following safflower this past year that had Spartan used as a pre before the safflower was planted, so even a year after Spartan you can see injury in lentils.

The main takeaway with all of these herbicides is that they are not good in a lentil rotation, but I will argue that neither are Canada thistle, bindweed, wild buckwheat, marestail and narrow leaf hawksbeard. If you look the other way, you can create a problem that could cost you for several years after. Use these products to clean up these weeds, especially after raising a pulse crop since you should not realistically raise a pulse for another 3 to 5 years to help manage root diseases in pulse crops. When you tell us that you want us to recommend products that will keep your options open for pulse crops the next year when you have these weed problems, you are compounding your weed problems along with possibly introducing resistance since you may not kill the weeds.

To help with weed control in lentils, we do not have many options and some of our options will almost guarantee crop injury. We have had fair luck with weed control with Prowl H2O with very little crop injury. Valor has become a more popular option using the plant back rotation for lentils and has become quite affordable this year. We have seen some crop injury with Valor that is usually dependent on weather and soil properties in fields where lentils are planted. Metribuzin is another hit and miss product that will more than likely have some crop response. Anthem Flex is another option that will give some grass control especially for people who have problems with both group one and group two grass herbicides. Sharpen will be the last one I will mention but the label for lentils only allows ¾ of an ounce and you will not see a lot of residual with that low of a rate.

Be careful where you plant your lentils, what you are using as a pre-emergent herbicide for lentils, and what you have used in the past. Lentils have become a very profitable crop but it can be very difficult to manage herbicide rotations and they should never be raised in a tight rotation because of root diseases. We have found Aphanomyces root rot in fields in this area already and if it becomes prevalent in your fields, you probably will not be able to successfully raise peas or lentil for up to 10 to 15 years in those fields. If you have any questions on rotating herbicides, plant back restrictions with herbicides, managing disease pressure in pulse crops or lentil rotations in general, talk to one of our Agronomists in any of our Agronomy locations.
 
 
John Salvevold
Agronomy Division Manager, CCA
 
 

A New Look to Kochia Management in the West

According to the Weed Science Society of America, the first step to managing resistant weed populations is using multiple herbicide modes of action with overlapping weed spectrums in rotation, sequences or mixtures. To help control the toughest weeds like PPO resistant kochia and/or Group 1 and Group 2 resistant green foxtail it is recommended to use different modes of action and active ingredients. Anthem® Flex herbicide from FMC does just this. Powered by pyroxasulfone, which is a Group 15 herbicide, we are adding a mode of action to our herbicide rotations that has been very underutilized in Western ND and Eastern MT, until now. From research done with North Dakota State University the past 3 years we have found that a fall of 2024 application of 3.25 – 4.5oz/A of Anthem® Flex will provide increased residual control of problematic weeds such as kochia, green & yellow foxtail, downy brome, pigweeds and barnyardgrass well into the 2025 growing season.

Crops that may be planted next spring following a fall application of Anthem® Flex include Lentils, Peas, Chickpeas, Sunflowers, Soybeans, Corn and Spring Wheat. Make sure to check the label for application rates based on soil characteristics and crop.

For optimum results, apply Anthem®Flex when soil temperatures are lower than 55 °F and declining to prevent herbicide degradation. At these lower temperatures, soil microbial activity is slow and herbicides will remain active into the spring when they are needed to control emerging weeds but also when early rains prevent timely spring applications. It is important to use at least 10 GPA when treating fields with heavy crop residue or weed populations for better coverage. Additional labeled products for your planned crop are encouraged to be tank mixed to help improve control with even more modes of action on the field.
 
 
Ryan Hunt
Technical Services Manager, FMC


Photo taken June 11, 2024 at the NDSU NCREC in Minot, ND. Left: Anthem Flex applied at 4.0 oz/ac in October 2023. Right: Untreated