There are a number of crop samples coming into the Diagnostic Clinic, particularly soybean samples with herbicide injury. This brings up the thought that, with the majority for the crop setting pods, it is time to stop spraying herbicides. The Liberty Link beans should not be sprayed once they start blooming, and the Roundup Ready beans should not be sprayed once they start setting pods. Also, many of the contact type herbicides should not be used at this time. Leaf burn on mature leaves of soybean plants is much worse than injury to younger plants that are still growing and will put on several more nodes of leaves. Most weeds now growing above full-season soybeans are much taller than the label recommends spraying, and will probably not be killed anyway.

Double-cropped soybeans and some of the very late planted full-season beans may still be at a stage that is within label. But, even then, you need to look at the weed heights to determine if they are within label recommendation. There are certain cases where herbicides are still needed. Examples are when there are morningglories or burcucumber problems in a field that need to be control to prevent total crop loss. Look for herbicides that are effective on these weeds and are not off-label. For many; however, the next best time to control some of these big weeds is at preharvest when bean pods are mature and leaves are dropping. Check the herbicide label for application restrictions before spraying any herbicide.