Dec. 19, 2019 09:49 AM

DuraCor™ Herbicide Takes Out Tough Weeds — Allowing Grasses to Thrive

This item has been supplied by a forage marketer and has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hay & Forage Grower.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered DuraCor™ herbicide from Corteva Agriscience for the 2020 season.

DuraCor features Rinskor® active, the first new active ingredient for broadleaf weed control in pastures and rangeland in nearly 15 years.

“We are excited to bring this important new active ingredient to the range and pasture market,” said Jillian Schmiedt, Range & Pasture Category Lead at Corteva Agriscience. “Corteva Agriscience is focused on helping cattle producers improve productivity and increase profit potential.”

Powered by Rinskor, recipient of the American Chemical Society’s 2018 Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and teamed with long proven and trusted aminopyralid, DuraCor controls more than 140 broadleaf weed species and offers several features, including:

  • Safe to desirable forage grasses
  • Extended broadleaf weed control
  • Low use rate
  • Compatibility with dry and liquid fertilizer
  • Low-odor formulation
  • Non-restricted use

“DuraCor brings together two actives that received reduced-risk status under the EPA’s Conventional Reduced Risk Pesticide Program,” said Schmiedt. “Both are highly effective in controlling weeds yet give producers a product with a very favorable environmental profile.”

In addition to common rangeland and pasture weeds, such as thistles, ragweed, horsenettle, pigweed and others, multiple years of testing show improved control of especially tough-to-control broadleaf species, including wild carrot, giant hogweed, wild parsnip, plantain, poison hemlock, the sunflower and aster families and common caraway. DuraCor also provides better control of mature marshelder, Canada thistle, tall ironweed and other species.

Poison hemlock is an expanding problem in many areas. Consuming even small amounts can be lethal to livestock.

“In a year like we’ve just been through, when weather and other challenges prevent timely pasture spraying — or any spraying at all — producers will appreciate the wider application window with DuraCor,” Schmiedt said.

Keeping weeds out of the way of pasture productivity is key as beef operations strive to manage costs by maximizing their lowest-cost feed source — their grazing acres.

“The main problem with pasture weeds is loss of grazing,” said John Byrd, Extension Weed Specialist, Mississippi State University. “We see reduced productivity in areas with significant populations of horsenettle and higher plant densities of species like marshelder and Brazilian vervain. Anywhere you have complete ground cover with any of those, you’re losing the forage base because animals won’t graze those sites.”

Anchored by a deep taproot, wild carrot competes with desirable forage grasses for moisture and nutrients. Although it’s a species most herbicides miss, new DuraCor™ herbicide is especially effective on all members of the carrot family.

A new tool for rangeland

Tall ironweed can grow 3 to 7 feet tall, shading out forage grasses. New DuraCor™ herbicide provides excellent control of tall ironweed — even more mature plants.
In the Western states, DuraCor™ herbicide expands the toolbox for ranchers who manage with multiple land-use goals in mind.

“DuraCor is especially effective against the most troublesome noxious and invasive weeds,” said Scott Flynn, Corteva Agriscience Zonal Biology Leader. “Canada thistle, knapweeds, yellow starthistle and many invasive species not only reduce forage production, they also threaten the rangeland ecosystem and other fragile sites. DuraCor provides a new option for protecting, improving and preserving the land — whether for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat or mixed uses.”

DuraCor will be available for the 2020 application season and is the second of five solutions Corteva Agriscience anticipates bringing to livestock producers and land managers in just three years.

“Corteva Agriscience is committed to giving cattle producers the reliable partner they need for improving rangeland and pasture productivity,” Schmiedt said. “Our dedicated team of local Range & Pasture Specialists approaches each ranch individually, and they ask what that landowner’s objectives are for the land. Ultimately, they work together, developing a plan with those goals in mind.”

For more information, visit DuraCorHerbicide.com.

The untreated plot (left) shows a mix of low-value, competitive broadleaf weeds. Meanwhile, seven weeks after an application of DuraCor™ herbicide (right), desirable grasses dominate, providing a forage base capable of supporting more grazing animals, compared with untreated pasture.