As farmers continue to plant soybeans earlier, concerns remain around preemergence (PRE) herbicide injury to emerging seedlings.

Cold, wet soil conditions often delay soybean seed germination and prolong seedling emergence. These conditions not only increase the length of exposure to PRE herbicides, but they also reduce the soybean plant’s ability to metabolize the herbicide, both of which increase crop injury potential.

Funded by the Illinois Soybean Association checkoff program and spearheaded by the University of Illinois Crop Sciences department, this project will test several herbicides that consist of different classes of chemistry to better understand which are more prone to cause crop injury under early planting conditions.

With this data, farmers will have access to crop injury ratings for common PRE herbicides to better inform their weed management decisions when planting soybeans earlier than the norm.

The research team includes Dr. Aaron Hager, professor and weed science extension specialist, and Logan Miller, research specialist, both from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. To learn more about this project, visit www.ILSoyAdvisor.com/Research. 

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About the Author: Kelsey Litchfield

Kelsey Litchfield is the Agronomic Outreach Specialist for the Illinois Soybean Association. In her role, she manages Field Advisor's media platforms and assists the agronomy team with events and field days. A native of Rio, IL, Kelsey earned her bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2017 where she double majored in Agricultural Communications and Broadcast Journalism.

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