injury widespread <\/a>or occurring in specific areas, such as the headlands, low or high areas of the field?<\/p>\nShe answered the rapid-fire questions just as quickly.<\/p>\n
At the end of May, at about the four- or five-leaf stage, she sprayed Roundup and Marksman at a rate of one litre per acre, with no potential sprayer input contamination. She\u2019d used Roundup on some beans previously, and she\u2019d never encountered previous incidents of injury with the application, noting it was not a Dicamba-sensitive hybrid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just in a few areas of the field; not every plant was like this, but there were areas where every plant was and then the odd one otherwise. There wasn\u2019t really a pattern,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe (in) the better parts of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was that final statement that Van den Borre seized on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas the crop more advanced in those areas? What was that stage? How did you stage it?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n
Freitag smiled, acknowledging she was impressed with the calibre of questioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really walk the whole field. Most of it looked like it was four- or five-leaf stage. I guess some of it could have been a little further ahead. I\u2019m not sure,\u201d Freitag said. \u201cI just looked at it \u2013 one, two, three, four. The label goes up to five-leaf, so I figured I was pretty safe. But after I sprayed, it got really cold (at night), and (the temperatures) weren\u2019t too bad during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that, Freitag started a lesson on how improper staging and weather can wreak havoc on plant development because, despite Dicamba\u2019s five-leaf label, she prefers to apply it no later than four-leaf.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it was on the upper end of that (five-leaf) staging or beyond, and those fluctuating temperatures \u2013 I think that combination is what hit it,\u201d said Frietag.<\/p>\n
BASF\u2019s Distinct products have a little more latitude for later applications, but the early post-emerge products require extra care, she reiterated.<\/p>\n
Participants debated whether Freitag\u2019s early-stage corn plant example\u2019s top leaf was considered \u201cover\u201d with another leaf emerging. Freitag said producers should overestimate leaf stage rather than underestimate, noting the coleoptile \u2014 the first, shorter, round-tip leaf \u2014 counts, even if removed, because the plant recognizes it was there. It\u2019s possible the producer didn\u2019t count it, she theorized.<\/p>\n
![\"Max](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/161825_web1_20250716_DM_FTO_Herbicide-Injury-Scenarios-corn-staging04-1024x1024.jpg\")
Max Van den Borre, a BASF sales intern and University of Guelph Food and Agricultural Business student, left, inspects a goosenecked corn sample Leanne Freitag, Bayer Crop Science agronomic solutions advisor, right, brought as a herbicide injury specimen for the Ontario Weed Tour at the Elora Research Station on July 16, 2025. Photo Diana Martin<\/p>\n
![\"Leanne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/161825_web1_20250716_DM_FTO_Herbicide-Injury-Scenarios-corn-staging05-1024x900.jpg\")
Leanne Freitag, Bayer Crop Science agronomic solutions advisor, shows the gnarled roots of a goosenecked corn sample brought for the herbicide injury scenario discussion during the Ontario Weed Tour at the Elora Research Station on July 16, 2025. Photo Diana Martin<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really easy to stage corn wrong,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s critical that the applicator knows, or farmer knows \u2013 whoever\u2019s making that call on when to spray \u2013 knows. Especially with any Dicamba products.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fluctuating temperatures can influence the staging throughout the field and impact how Dicamba application metabolizes the corn once it hits the rapid growth phase.<\/p>\n
Last year, she assessed a field sprayed with Dicamba and Marksman at the six- to seven-leaf stage, which displayed some goosenecking and twisting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe farmer kind of laughed at me that I was panicking that he did that,\u201d Freitag said, adding excellent growing conditions at application and after likely minimized the impact, resulting in a 200-bushel yield.<\/p>\n
She explained that two weeks of cold, harsh weather could have stunted corn height but not the leaf stage, leaving producers focused on height because they \u201calways spray it when it\u2019s about three or four inches tall,\u201d caught off guard by the actual number of leaves.<\/p>\n
The examples Freitag showed didn\u2019t leave much hope for ear development, in her opinion, but there are enough normal-looking plants that she\u2019s hopeful pollination shouldn\u2019t be an issue for the rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m losing hope on the tassel,\u201d she said, flipping the plant to display a gnarled root ball. \u201cIt\u2019s fused right tight together. There\u2019s a little bit open at the top, but that tassel is going to really struggle to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bell-ft.gif\")
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![\"Northern](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/162159_web1_UManitoba_northern-corn-rootworm-on-corn.jpg\")
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