Dow’s Enlist cotton ready for 2016 launch, farmers discuss growing it

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Dow’s Enlist cotton ready for 2016 launch, farmers discuss growing it

Enlist Duo herbicide is not yet registered for use with Enlist cotton. Dow AgroSciences anticipates registration in time for applications in 2016.

Cotton growers in 2016 will have access to Enlist cotton, which provides crop tolerance to Enlist Duo herbicide — a combination of glyphosate and new 2,4-D choline — and full tolerance to glufosinate herbicides.

Virginia farmer Mike Griffin participated in the 2015 Enlist cotton grower research plots. “We cannot stop innovating to find a way to be better and to do more with agriculture,” Griffin says. “The Enlist system specifically has been brought forward to help control weed species that have just been unmanageable. We look forward to using this technology to help us with those resistant and hard to control weeds.”

Enlist cotton will be available in PhytoGen cottonseed. It will be stacked with Genuity Roundup Ready Flex and WideStrike 3 Insect Protection. “This marks the first trait within the Enlist weed control system to be launched,” says Brian Barker, U.S. seeds general manager, Dow AgroSciences.

Enlist Duo herbicide is optimized for on-target application with Dow AgroSciences’ proprietary Colex-D technology. Colex-D technology not only minimizes the potential for physical drift and provides near-zero volatility but also decreases odor and improves handling. Enlist Duo herbicide is not yet registered for use with Enlist cotton. Dow AgroSciences anticipates registration in time for applications in 2016.

In November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested a vacatur of the registration of Enlist Duo for use on Enlist corn and Enlist soybeans. Dow AgroSciences is confident in the extensive data supporting Enlist Duo herbicide and provided additional data to assure that the conditions of registered use of the product will continue to protect the environment, including threatened and endangered plant species.

The diverse agricultural landscape throughout the Cotton Belt means specialty crops may be located near cotton acres. Mississippi grower Trey Koger, Ph.D., participated in the Enlist cotton grower research plots and says it is important to be mindful of neighbors’ crops when making a herbicide application.

“We have a lot of crops growing in close proximity to one another, such as rice, grain sorghum and peanuts,” Koger says. “I had no issues at all with drift or volatility with Enlist Duo. The Enlist cotton field shows that we’ll be able to utilize this technology to help us manage glyphosate-resistant and hard-to-control weeds.”