⋅ BY CARROLL SMITH ⋅
EDITOR
In many areas of the Cotton Belt, farmers diversify their operations by growing a mix of crops such as cotton, peanuts and rice. They may rotate cotton and peanuts and grow row rice on heavier ground that is not as suitable for the other two.
Farmers typically welcome products that work well across these fields to help simplify and streamline production practices. A good example is Brake herbicide.
Brake is labeled for use on cotton and peanuts, and in the past couple years, has been granted a label for row rice. It’s been described as a foundation grass and broadleaf preemergence residual herbicide for all three crops.
Brake has a unique mode of action, produces a whitening effect on any weeds that come up and provides three to four weeks of residual activity on a multitude of broadleaf weeds and grasses.
In cotton, SePRO Ag technical rep Bret Mize recommends putting it out right behind the planter.
“It takes ½-inch of rain or irrigation to activate Brake, so I like to apply 16 ounces of Brake tankmixed with another overlapping residual, such as Cotoran, Direx, Warrant or Caparol, that is more water soluble,” he said.
“The other herbicides can hold the weeds back until Brake is fully activated, and they usually have a two-week residual no matter what. This is not a lot but is very important up front when you are layering them.
“Also, while Brake is lying out in the field, the sun doesn’t degrade it, and it doesn’t leach out of the soil. I’ve seen weeds come up white after a rain in August, and the Brake herbicide had been put out in April or May.
“Also, Brake does not get tied up in cover crop residue. The cover crop residue actually helps hold in moisture that can be used to activate Brake.”
Peanuts
Peanuts are often considered a good crop to rotate with cotton because the legume fixes nitrogen in the soil, is not affected by the same nematodes that affect cotton and provides another cash crop in a diversified operation.
Although Brake herbicide is labeled for use in peanuts, you have to apply at least two modes of action in this crop to pick up the weed spectrum that’s out there. With that said, Brake is still typically applied as a preemerge behind the planter at a 12- to 16-ounce rate, depending on the soil type.
Also be sure to tankmix it with another overlapping residual that is more water soluble like you do in cotton.
Row Rice
“Row rice is a brand new label for Brake, but it looks very promising,” Mize says. It’s applied a little differently in this crop compared to cotton and peanuts and controls many annual grasses and small-seeded broadleaf weeds, including pigweed.
“When applying Brake to row rice, wait until the rice is at the three- to five-leaf growth stage, spray Brake as a pre-flood application and then flush the field with water, which runs out the end of the field. Spray any weeds that had come up prior to this with a post herbicide. The goal is to make sure the field is clean going forward.”
To learn more about how to use Brake herbicide across cotton, peanuts and row rice, visit ag.sepro.com/brake and always scout your fields and follow up with a post-emergence herbicide as needed.