Palmer amaranth is a summer annual weed native to the southwestern United States and is particularly troublesome across the Cotton Belt. The use of soil-residual herbicides is crucial for cotton producers in the Texas High Plains attempting to achieve early season control of Palmer amaranth and other problematic weeds. A bare-ground field study was conducted in 2022 and 2023 in Halfway, Texas, to evaluate weed control following isoxaflutole + pendimethalin applied preplant incorporated (PPI) or pendimethalin PPI followed by (fb) isoxaflutole applied preemergence alone or combined with seven other cotton residual herbicides, and to determine whether using isoxaflutole PPI would be a useful option for rainfed production systems. In 2022, Palmer amaranth was completely controlled at 28 d after application (DAA) following isoxaflutole + pendimethalin applied PPI fb acetochlor or S-metolachlor applied preemergence, and pendimethalin applied PPI fb isoxaflutole in a tank-mix with diuron, fomesafen, acetochlor, or S-metolachlor applied preemergence. At 42 DAA, PPI treatments that contained isoxaflutole + pendimethalin fb preemergence applications of acetochlor or S-metolachlor, and a PPI treatment with pendimethalin fb isoxaflutole + acetochlor or S-metolachlor applied preemergence increased Palmer amaranth control by ≥12% compared with isoxaflutole + pendimethalin applied PPI fb prometryn applied preemergence and pendimethalin applied PPI fb isoxaflutole + prometryn applied preemergence. In 2023, when assessed at 42 DAA, Palmer amaranth was controlled by >90% with isoxaflutole + pendimethalin applied PPI fb fomesafen or S-metolachlor applied preemergence, and pendimethalin applied PPI fb isoxaflutole applied alone or in a tank-mixture with diuron, fluridone, fomesafen, acetochlor, or S-metolachlor applied preemergence. End-of-season aboveground Palmer amaranth fresh biomass did not vary among treatments in either year. These results suggest that soil-residual control of Palmer amaranth greater than 90% can be achieved for 7 to 9 wk using isoxaflutole-based treatments applied either PPI or preemergence. Furthermore, applying isoxaflutole PPI can be a useful option for achieving early season weed control in cotton production systems.

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The continued development of herbicide-resistant weeds, such as Palmer amaranth, represents a growing concern across the United States Cotton Belt. To mitigate this issue, BASF Corp. developed Axant™ Flex cotton, the first quadruple-stacked herbicide resistance germplasm to improve the control of troublesome weed species in cotton. Field studies were conducted in 2022 and 2023 at the Texas Tech University Research Farm near New Deal, TX, to evaluate the response of Axant Flex cotton to topramezone applied alone or in combinations when applied to three-leaf cotton (early-postemergence or EPOST) or to seven-leaf cotton (mid-postemergence or MPOST). No difference in cotton stand was observed between isoxaflutole or prometryn preemergence treatments compared to the nontreated control. In 2022, no EPOST treatment caused greater than 6% crop response at 7 and 14 d after application (DAA). When treatments were made to seven-leaf cotton, crop response did not exceed 18% at 7 and 14 DAA. In 2023, crop response was ≤2% at 28 DAA regardless of application timing. No differences in lint yield were observed following any herbicide treatment when compared to the nontreated control in either year. Additionally, fiber length and strength were not adversely affected by treatments containing topramezone EPOST or MPOST in 2022 and 2023. These results support the potential use of topramezone in Axant Flex cotton to help manage troublesome weeds without detrimental effects on yield and fiber quality.

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The southern United States produces 90% of the nation’s cotton, and the Texas High Plains is the largest contiguous cotton producing region. Since 2011, glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth has complicated cotton production, and alternatives to glyphosate are needed. Integrating soil residual herbicides into a weed management program is a crucial step to control glyphosate resistant weeds before emergence. The recent development of p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-resistant cotton by BASF Corporation may allow growers to use isoxaflutole in future weed management programs. In 2019 and 2020, field experiments were conducted in New Deal, Lubbock, and Halfway, Texas, to evaluate HPPD-resistant cotton response to isoxaflutole applied preemergence (PRE) or early postemergence (EPOST) and to determine the efficacy of isoxaflutole when used as part of a season-long weed management program. At the New Deal location, cotton response was observed following the EPOST application, but it never exceeded 10%. Cotton response was greatest following the PRE application in Lubbock in 2019 but did not exceed 14%. In 2020 in Lubbock, cotton was replanted due to severe weather. There was <1% cotton response following the PRE application, and maximum cotton response observed was 9% following EPOST and mid-postemergence (MPOST) applications. Cotton lint yields were not different from those of the nontreated, weed-free control at either location. In non-crop weed control studies in Halfway, all treatments controlled Palmer amaranth ≥94% 21 d after the EPOST application. Twenty-one days after the MPOST treatment, systems with isoxaflutole applied EPOST controlled Palmer amaranth by 88% to 93%, while systems with isoxaflutole PRE controlled Palmer amaranth by 94% to 98%. End-of-season Palmer amaranth control was lowest in the system without isoxaflutole (88%) and when isoxaflutole was used EPOST (88% to 91%). These studies suggest that the use of isoxaflutole in cotton weed management systems may improve season-long control of several troublesome weeds with no adverse effects on cotton yield and quality.