Interaction of contact herbicides and timing of dicamba exposure on soybean

Abstract

Dicamba residues in sprayers are difficult to remove and may interact with subsequent herbicides including contact herbicides labeled for use in soybean. Without proper tank cleanout, applicators treating dicamba-resistant and non-dicamba-resistant crops are at risk of contaminating the spray solution with dicamba residue from previous applications. Experiments were conducted in Fayetteville, AR in 2018 and 2019 with the first evaluating consequences of dicamba tank contamination with contact herbicides and the second experiment addressing the impact of dicamba exposure on a glufosinate-resistant soybean cultivar relative to a contact herbicide application. Experiments for tank contamination and timing of dicamba exposure were designed as a three-factor- and a two-factor- randomized complete block with four replications, respectively, considering site-year as a fixed effect in each experiment. Dicamba at 0, 0.056, 0.56, and 5.6 g ae ha −1 was applied alone, with glufosinate, with acifluorfen, or with glufosinate plus acifluorfen to V3 soybean. Dicamba applied in combination with contact herbicides exacerbated visible auxin symptomology over dicamba alone at 21 and 28 days after treatment (DAT), while dicamba at 5.6 g ae ha −1 reduced soybean height. Injury and height reductions caused by dicamba mixtures with contact herbicides did not reduce grain yield. In the second experiment, dicamba was applied at 2.8 g ae ha −1 at VC, V1, V2, V3, and at 3, 7, and 10 days after a glufosinate application to V3 soybean (DATV3). Greater soybean injury was observed when dicamba exposure followed a glufosinate application than when dicamba preceded glufosinate or was applied in a mixture with glufosinate, with yield reductions resulting from 7 and 10 DATV3 dicamba applications. Dicamba exposure in the presence of contact herbicides resulted in increased auxin symptomology and can be intensified if soybean are exposed to dicamba following a contact herbicide application.

Effect of dicamba on reproductive development in corn and rice

“…The potential for phytotoxicity to occur from synthetic auxin herbicide applications is generally greater at more sensitive growth stages such as germination and reproductive development, where rapid plant growth or cell division is occurring (Sandall, 2021). Yield reductions from dicamba exposure during reproductive development are common in broadleaf crops, such as sensitive soybean, whereas vegetative exposure is often transient (Wax et al., 1969; Auch & Arnold, 1978; Solomon & Bradley, 2014; Castner et al., 2021). Bond and Walker (2012) found that grain yield was reduced in certain cultivars when rice was treated with quinclorac at panicle initiation compared with rice treated at an earlier growth stage.…”