By Blake Jackson
As corn silage harvest approaches, growers should pay close attention to burcucumber management. This weed is particularly challenging because it can germinate and emerge late in the season, often going unnoticed until it climbs above the crop canopy. With more farmers reporting issues, interest in effective control strategies continues to rise.
Research from Penn State has shown that ensiling immature burcucumber seed is a reliable method for reducing viability. When green or cream-tan colored seeds were ensiled for eight weeks, only about 2% remained viable. In contrast, mature seeds with dark brown seed coats had a viability rate of 87%.
This indicates that early silage harvest in fields infested with burcucumber can significantly reduce the spread of viable seed. In addition, silage harvest prevents mature seed from being spread back into the field through the combine.
For fields where burcucumber persists after silage harvest, options become much more limited. No herbicides are labeled for application on tasseled corn.
Glyphosate use is restricted until grain maturity, and other products such as dicamba, Liberty, Peak, and Callisto must be applied no later than the V8 stage. Applying herbicides with drones or high-clearance sprayers at this point in the season is not permitted and would not provide effective control.
The next legal opportunity for burcucumber treatment would be applying harvest aid herbicides just before grain harvest. As that time approaches, Penn State will share updated guidance on products available for this use.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-zoomtravels
Categories: Pennsylvania, Crops, Corn