BASF and its licensee partners are rolling out LL-GT27 soybean trait in a variety of maturities and varieties this year across the U.S. The new soybean trait features tolerances to glufosinate, glyphosate and HPPD inhibitors (such as Armezon, Balance Flexx, Callisto, Impact and Laudis)—although the latter of the three is not yet approved for over-the-top use.
In addition, certain glyphosate brands might not be legal to apply over-the-top either. The EPA recently provided Ohio State University researchers with guidance. Here’s what they learned.
“If the soybean section of the [herbicide] label restricts use to certain genetics by trade name—Roundup Ready, Roundup Ready 2 Yield, etc.—then it would not be legal to apply to the LL-GT27 soybean,” said Mark Loux at Ohio State University in a recent C.O.R.N. Newsletter. “If the wording on the label is along the lines of ‘for use on soybeans with the Roundup Ready gene,’ or similar wording with other specific genetics, it [also] would not be legal to apply to the LL-GT27 soybean.”
This could throw a wrench in post-emergent herbicide plans for some farmers who might have planned to apply glyphosate. Note, glufosinate is legal to apply post-emerge. Loux says this is likely to impact farmers who bought LL-GT27 soybeans for their genetics with plans to apply glyphosate and not glufosinate.
“Most of the utility of this soybean on problem broadleaf weeds comes from the LibertyLink trait though,” he adds. “We assume label language will adapt over time to take care of the glyphosate issue.”
For now, look for wording that says “glyphosate resistant” or “glyphosate tolerant” before spraying the herbicide on LL-GT27 soybeans.
BASF provided the following statement to Agweb:
LibertyLink GT27 and GT27 contains 2mEPSPS, a glyphosate tolerant gene. It is BASF’s position that any glyphosate herbicide with an EPA approved label for over the top use which states it is for use on soybeans that contain a glyphosate tolerant gene and not limited to crops containing the Roundup Ready gene, may be applied to LibertyLink GT27 and GT27 in accordance with the EPA approved label.
