Statewide
In our very first TGSA Sorghum Tip last year we highlighted to producers the opportunity to use Huskie herbicide in grain sorghum (see here). Since the end of the 2012 cropping season, numerous producers have commented they were well satisfied with Huskie’s control. Here is a sampling of common comments from producers as well as the Huskie manufacturer, Bayer Crop Science.
- Low to modest Huskie injury on grain sorghum was acceptable. A quick flashing, or burn, of the leaves was not uncommon, but injury levels were modest, and the grain sorghum quickly grew out of the injury with no apparent lasting effect on grain sorghum.
- Producers were largely well satisfied with overall weed control. This included Palmer ameranth, other pigweed species, morningglory, Russian thistle.
- Good control of glyphosate-resistant Palmer ameranth is a primary attribute of Huskie. This allows producers to more safely use herbicidal modes of action when they rotate grain sorghum.
- Were there any problems or dissatisfaction with Huskie? In the High Plains there were but a few producers that were not pleased, but the common thread among their comments were: a) dryland (especially in a major drought year), b) weeds were hardened off, and/or c) the sorghum itself was not doing well and not actively growing in some cases.
What to expect in the future for Huskie in Texas grain sorghum?
Bayer suggests that for optimum weed control, use:
1 pint of Huskie + 1 pint of atrazine + 1 lb. of ammonium sulfate (AMS) per acre
This rate of atrazine might be a concern for farmers on sandy loam to loamy sand soils; however, Texas AgriLife as well as Bayer staff has not observed any apparent issues with atrazine as long as the applicator follows the labeled rate.
Rotation to cotton on the Huskie label remains at 18 months or field bio-assay. Texas A&M AgriLife and Bayer staff have not yet observed any significant rotation issues to cotton.
There is consideration of expanding the Huskie label for applications up to flag leaf emergence. Though this might be appealing to producers, we should only view this as a potential rescue treatment. Waiting until nearly flag leaf emergence means that pigweed and other problem weeds will be larger, thus harder to kill. Weed control will more likely be incomplete.
Watch for an upcoming Texas A&M AgriLife survey of 2012 Huskie users to share their experience with this herbicide. This will likely merit an additional mid-season Huskie sorghum tip.
