The LibertyLink trait in cotton, coupled with Ignite herbicide, has been a viable option for growers for the past several years. FiberMax® LibertyLink cotton varieties have a genetically based tolerance to Ignite.

Ken Hall, who farms 1,600 acres of cotton near Shingler, GA, says he likes having a wide window when he can spray Ignite directly over his cotton crop. But that’s not the reason he originally started using LibertyLink cotton. “We started using it as a refuge. When we saw how well it performed—especially on morningglory, which was our biggest weed issue then—we began to increase our acres,” Hall says.

Resistance has become a big reason to use LibertyLink cotton in the rotation. Ken Smith, Extension weed scientist at the University of Arkansas, declares that with their resistant Palmer amaranth populations, they’re trying to give growers every option. “The resistant weeds are about to run us over,” says Smith. “The pigweed has blown up on us. We have resistant common ragweed, giant ragweed and one location where Johnsongrass has not responded to glyphosate—and marestail, of course—but Palmer amaranth is the one that is exploding on us. It’s really causing us grief and is going to change the way we farm. That’s where LibertyLink will fit best, and where LibertyLink cotton is an option.”

Click here for more good news!