Did you say metolachor, acetochlor, or close the door?

Did you say metolachor, acetochlor, or close the door?

Mike Rankin
Crops and Soils Agent
University of Wisconsin - Extension

Chris Boerboom, UW-Extension Weed Management Specialist, reminds us that there is more benefit to knowing the common names of herbicides than just to impress family and friends. A herbicide’s trade name is the name it is marketed under (e.g. Lasso), while the common name is the name for the active ingredient (e.g. alachlor).

Reasons why common names are important

1) Several herbicides are off-patent and the same ingredient is sold under different trade names. The number of herbicides coming off-patent will increase in the near future. Also, marketing plans between manufacturers or between manufacturers and distributors increase the number of products with the same ingredient. It’s important to know which products have the same herbicide active ingredient so you can compare price or understand the characteristics of the herbicide (e.g. weed control, crop safety, etc.).

2) The same herbicide ingredient may appear in several similar herbicide mixtures. Knowing the herbicide’s common name and your own experience with one of these herbicides will help you to understand how the other herbicide premixes will perform.

3) Some herbicides are very frequently used in corn and soybeans and are often referred to by their common names.

Here's a list of herbicide common and trade names that every crop producer should be familiar with:

Common Name	Comments and Examples
2,4-D	Everyone should know this common name. 2,4-D is often part of the trade name (e.g. 2,4-D LV4) for this broadleaf herbicide. However, a couple herbicide labels like Salvo don’t list 2,4-D, but use its chemical name, 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, in the ingredients section of the label.
atrazine	Another well known common name that is sold as Aatrex or by many distributors as "Atrazine". Atrazine is in many premixes.
glyphosate	Many people have quickly learned this name because it is the ingredient in Roundup products, Touchdown, Glyphomax, Cornerstone, Clearout-41, etc., etc.
dicamba	Dicamba may have gained market share as a herbicide to manage triazine-resistant weeds in corn, but applicators have also learned to exercise care with dicamba to avoid drift and clean-out spray tanks to avoid puckering soybean leaves. Dicamba products include Banvel, Clarity, and Sterling. Premixes with dicamba include Celebrity Plus, Distinct, NorthStar, Marksman, Sterling Plus, Weedmaster, and Yukon.
The next group of preemergence grass herbicides belongs to the acetamide chemical family. Some are used more frequently than others, but all are listed because they are similar.
acetochlor	Degree, Harness, Surpass, and TopNotch are acetochlor. Acetochlor premixed with atrazine is sold as Degree Xtra, Field Master (plus glyphosate), Fultime, Harness Xtra, Keystone, and Keystone LA. DoublePlay also contains acetochlor.
alachlor	Lasso and Micro-tech (Partner is no longer manufactured) are alachlor. Bullet and Lariat are the premixes of alachlor with atrazine.
metolachlor	Dual II Magnum and Cinch are metolachlor and the atrazine premixes are Cinch ATZ, Cinch ATZ Lite, Bicep II Magnum and Bicep II Magnum Lite. Other metolachlor containing products include Camix, Lumax, and Boundary.
dimethenamid	Outlook (Frontier is no longer manufactured). Dimethenamid premixed with atrazine is sold as Guardsman Max and G-Max Lite.
flufenacet	Define contains flufenacet and flufenacet premixes include Axiom and Domain.
The next three herbicides are ingredients used for postemergence grass control in corn. All of these herbicides are in the large group of herbicides that inhibit ALS. ALS-resistant giant and green foxtail exist in Wisconsin and would be resistant to these grass herbicides.
nicosulfuron	Accent is straight nicosulfuron. Nicosulfuron is also premixed with rimsulfuron and sold as Steadfast. Nicosulfuron + rimsulfuron plus Hornet is sold as Accent Gold. This combination plus atrazine is sold as Basis Gold.
rimsulfuron	Corn growers cannot use straight rimsulfuron (it is sold to potato growers as Matrix). It is mixed with nicosulfuron as mentioned above and is also in the premix Basis.
foramsulfuron	At this time, foramsulfuron is only sold as Option.
pendimethalin	Prowl and Pendimax contain the same ingredient.
mesotrione	Mesotrione is a new corn herbicide sold as Callisto. Camix and Lumax are premixes that also contain mesotrione.
glufosinate	Sold as Liberty. Do not confuse with glufosinate with glyphosate. Glufosinate will kill Roundup Ready crops and glyphosate will kill Liberty Link corn.
This is not a complete list of herbicide ingredients that are sold under different names, but it highlights many commonly used corn and soybean herbicides.

For more information contact Mike Rankin

Comments and Examples