Objective
Over the years, some weeds have developed resistance to common herbicides such as glyphosate. To overcome this hurdle, growers may bump up the rates or add other herbicides or products with different mechanisms/modes of action into the tank mix. Such approaches have had mixed results over the long run and have increased the cost of weed control.
In this study, Huma Gro® X-Tend® was added to a glyphosate product to test the potential for improving the herbicidal efficacy of the product in a cost-effective way.
Materials & Methods
This study was conducted on a 160-acre wheat field in Leoti, Kansas, one month after the crop was harvested. The field was divided into two 80-acre sections. One section (Check) was sprayed with Showdown (Helena, 49.96% glyphosate) only, and the other section (Huma Gro®) was sprayed with Showdown plus Huma Gro® X-Tend® (Table 1). In both sections, ammonium sulfate (AMS) was added to the Showdown tank prior to spraying the wheat stubble.
Table 1. Glyphosate Weed Treatment, Without and With Huma Gro® X-Tend® Added
| Treatment | Products |
| Check | 32 fl oz Showdown + 0.625 lb AMS @ 5 gal/ac |
| Huma Gro® | 32 fl oz Showdown + 0.625 lb AMS + 0.25 fl oz X-Tend® @ 5 gal/ac |
Ten days after application, the efficacy of the glyphosate-plus-X-Tend® mixture was assessed and compared with the glyphosate-only section of the field (Figure 1).
Results
Addition of Huma Gro® X-Tend® to glyphosate remarkably improved the efficacy of the herbicide (Figure 1). The control of pigweed, kochia, and other weeds with the glyphosate-plus-X-Tend® was about 99%, while without X-Tend® the kill was at about 75%. Only the kochia weeds are visible in the right-half section of the photo in Figure 1.
Conclusions
The cost of adding Huma Gro® X-Tend® to an herbicide is minimal, but the benefit is significant.
Figure 1. Glyphosate plus Huma Gro® X-Tend® on the left, versus the glyphosate-only treated field on the right.
Product Information
Huma Gro® X-Tend® is an excellent source of Micro Carbon Technology® formulated with organic acids and nutrients to improve the efficiency, release, and uptake of fertilizers and herbicides. X-Tend® helps release nutrients tied up in soils and is an outstanding additive for complexing most foliar nutrients and other liquid and granular crop inputs. For more information on Huma Gro® X-Tend®, CLICK HERE.
To download the Field Trial report, CLICK HERE.