Looking for something to control those pesky sandhill cranes? 
        Corn growers battle a multiple of pests during the growing season.  One that has become an increasing problem in Wisconsin is the sandhill crane.  Yep, these overgrown sparrows love to rip seed and small seedlings out of the ground and the bird population doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller.  Methods to control disease, insect, and weed pests (death!) just doesn’t play as well with wildlife species.  However, all is not lost.  Government, environmental, and research groups have now worked together to develop and test a new product called Avitec, which can be used as a bird-repellant seed treatment for corn.  Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency approved a special “crisis” exemption permit for its use in Wisconsin.  The active ingredient in Avitec is anthraquinone, a compound naturally produced by many plants to repel birds.  The product will be available in both a dry powder and liquid form.  Initially, this appears to be a win-win situation as both corn growers and crane watchers have met their goals (live corn and live cranes, respectively). 

A Dearth of Herbicide Companies
        Herbicide companies that develop and market their own products in the U.S. and Canada have rapidly decreased in number over the past 35 years.  The most recent data shows that only eight companies remain (see chart).  The reason for this decrease is largely because of industry buy-outs and mergers.  Consolidation was precipitated by the higher costs to develop products and greater competition among existing herbicides.  All of this means that there will likely not be an increase of new herbicide products in the future and gives ample reason to preserve the effectiveness of those we have. 

        The eight remaining herbicide companies are BASF, Bayer, Chemtura, Dow, DuPont, FMC, Valent, and Syngenta.

Toughest Wisconsin Weeds
        At this past winter’s Pest Management Update Meetings, attendees from across Wisconsin were asked to indicate their most troublesome weed to control for both corn and soybeans.  About 300 agronomists and farmers answered the survey.  Here are the top five responses for each crop: 

Wisconsin’s Most Troublesome Weeds 

Kame - a new oat variety for 2006
        Planting oats for grain certainly isn’t as common today as it was 25 years ago, but it’s still an important crop and the University of Wisconsin maintains a plant breeding program to further the genetics of the species.  This winter, a new early maturing oat variety was released called Kame.  It heads out about two days later than Dane (the “standard” for early oats) but with a higher yield potential.  In three years of testing at seven locations, Kame averaged 116 bushels per acre, highest among the early varieties.  Another unique characteristic of Kame is that it remains relatively short, which reduces the risk for lodging.

Poast Resistant Sweet Corn
        Options for post-emergence grass weed control have always been limited in sweet corn.  In recent years, Accent has become an alternative on approved hybrids that exhibit tolerance to herbicide injury.  A new option for 2006 is to plant Poast Protected sweet corn.  These hybrids are resistant to sethoxydim, the active ingredient in Poast herbicide (note:  Poast Plus is a different formulation of sethoxydim and is not registered for use on sweet corn).  Currently, there are only a few Poast resistant hybrids available. 

        Poast controls most annual grasses and suppresses quackgrass.  There is no activity on broadleaf weeds.  Tank mixes with atrazine, Basagran, or Laddok S-12 are labeled for Poast.  Callisto is not a recommended tank mix alternative.  Perhaps the best fit for Poast resistant hybrids is in fields where wild proso millet (WPM) poses a serious threat.  WPM often emerges late compared to other grasses.  Poast herbicide provides a wider window to make applications compared to Accent.  However, it’s still recommended to use a pre-emerge grass herbicide in conjunction with the later applied Poast application to control WPM.