With fall fast approaching, BASF Canada reminds growers about importance of post-harvest application

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Sept. 9, 2013 /CNW/ - According to researchers at the University of Alberta, more than 7.7 million hectares of western Canada farmland are infested with herbicide-resistant weeds, and the number is growing. Along with proper crop rotations, changing up timing and herbicide rotations are excellent strategies for managing weed resistance.

In the last year, the University of Alberta, with the support of BASF Canada, has conducted trials in post-harvest herbicide applications to see the effects of managing weeds in the fall. The researchers found applying a post-harvest application of DISTINCT^® herbicide reduces the seed set in kochia by 50 per cent.

In BASF grower trials, DISTINCT is found to also provide excellent weed control in perennial and winter annual weeds such as narrow-leaved hawk's beard, Canada thistle and dandelion.

"With an application to those weeds in the fall, growers get them when they're beginning to take carbohydrates from the leaves down into the roots, enabling them to overwinter. Waiting until spring can be too late because weeds can start growing early, getting too big and becoming much harder to control with a spring application," said Bryce Geisel, Technical Development Specialist for BASF Canada. "A post-harvest application allows growers to focus pre-seed burndown on those spring germinating weeds and eliminates the need to worry about perennial and winter annual weed escapes in your crop."

In the past, growers had limited options for herbicide applications when it came to re-cropping to canola, but new chemistries offered in DISTINCT provide growers with more options to help manage weeds. DISTINCT sets fields up for success in the spring and offers a wide window of rotational crop freedom. Applied by October 1, growers can seed any cereal crop and canola.

A post-harvest burndown allows growers to start with a cleaner field come spring, meaning far less weed competition during seeding. Using multiple modes of action and executing a post-harvest strategy help delay resistant weeds and establish better seeding and crop conditions, improving yield opportunity the following season.

For more information on DISTINCT, please visit www.agsolutions.ca.

BASF - The Chemical Company

BASF Canada, located in Mississauga, Ontario is a subsidiary of BASF SE, and an affiliate of BASF Corporation. BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,600 employees in North America, and had sales of $18.5 billion in 2012. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit www.basf.us. To find out more about BASF's activities in Canada visit www.basf.ca or follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/basfcanada.

BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of €72.1 billion in 2012 and more than 110,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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DISTINCT is a registered trade-mark of BASF Corporation, used with permission by BASF Canada Inc.

© 2013 BASF Canada Inc.                              

SOURCE: BASF Canada Inc.

Joel Johnson
BASF Canada Inc.
[phone]
[email protected]

Laura Duffy
ON Communication Inc.
[phone] x 223
[email protected]

BASF Canada
100 Milverton Drive, 5th Floor
Mississauga, ON, Canada
L5R 4H1
www.basf.ca