Visiting with consultants and a few growers it is apparent that a good deal of our cotton acres will see three herbicide application passes before the cotton is up. The early application was typically glyphosate + dicamba or glyphosate + dicamba + Leadoff.  With Palmer amaranth emerging now many are considering using Gramoxone + Reflex somewhere between 21 to 14 days ahead of the intended planting date.  Remember the Reflex needs a 0.5” of precipitation before cotton planting.  Then most plan to come back with Cotoran or Caparol behind the planter.  Compared to the cost of burndown a few years ago this program is considerably more expensive.  Instead of about $12.00 an acre when most ran just a quart of glyphosate and 8 oz of dicamba this program runs about $45.00 an acre.  However, this is a very sound Palmer amaranth management program and should be a good start whether the cotton to be planted is a RR Flex, LL or conventional cotton.

On a related topic, we are evaluating GR horseweed and GR Palmer amaranth control with cover crops.  This has been a great winter for a cover crop, so we may be witnessing a best case scenario. Vetch and crimson clover are the crops we are utilizing in one study.  We have a tremendous amount of growth in both crops that has not allowed any horseweed or Palmer amaranth to emerge as of yesterday.  It will obviously cut down on one herbicide application before planting.  We plan to evaluate how much Palmer control it will provide as the growing season unfolds.  We will keep you posted.