The shortage of Caparol is apparently causing a domino effect and now I hear Cotoran is starting to become tight in some locales. As I mentioned last week, the most common way Caparol and Cotoran have been used is in a tankmix. So what are some options now that Caparol is not in the picture and Cotoran supply maybe sketchy? 

That basically leaves Brake FX, Dual Magnum and Warrant as the most likely options. Brake FX, which is a premix of Cotoran and fluridone, has performed well in our research.  In wide spread use by West Tennessee farmers it has for the most part provided good residual control of Palmer amaranth.  There were some exceptions however where it did not perform as well.  In almost all those cases in was on soil types with high clay content.  The fluridone rate in that premix is too low to provide long residual in high clay content soils. It has proven across the board to be the safest PRE applied cotton herbicide we have ever studied.

The other options would be Warrant or Dual Magnum. My understanding is that many growers have been able to secure only about half as much as they need of Cotoran and Caparol.  In these cases, I would suggest tankmixing 24 oz of Warrant or 8 to 12 ozs of Dual Magnum with 16 ozs of Cotoran or Caparol. This should help stretch out the Caparol and Cotoran supply while reducing the likelihood of cotton injury.

Of course Xtendimax or Engenia could be used in that PRE window in Xtend cotton. I know the short supply situation may have some folks considering just using a dicamba product by itself PRE. I have worked with dicamba for decades and can say without question that it will provide good residual control sometimes. A herbicide program that only works sometimes will get one in trouble all the time.  Dicamba will only last a few days in wet soil. At the very least tankmix in one of the herbicides mentioned above that can provide some residual control in wet conditions.