Avoiding Herbicide Injury in Cover Crops

Some herbicides used in main crops may cause injury in cover crops. Stunting, yellowing or non-emergence, often in patches or headlands are common when herbicide carryover damages cover crops.

Herbicides to watch out for include:

• Command on pickling cucumbers: rye as a cover crop is not recommended after Command. There is not a lot of information on recropping after Command, but buckwheat may be one choice to try.
• Devrinol: This may damage any cereal crop planted in the fall.
• Sinbar: High rates used in orchards may cause injury for several years. In strawberries, spring applications would be of more concern than the previous fall.
• Simazine: Repeated applications in orchards and vineyards may cause injury in the old "herbicide strips" after the planting is removed.
• Primextra on sweet corn: the atrazine component may remain to cause some injury, especially on high pH soils above 7.5.
• Dicamba (Banvel); may cause injury if used to clean up thistles just before a cover crop.
• Pursuit, Classic, Broadstrike, Peakplus: may cause injury to some broadleaf cover crops, again depending on soil pH.

Tillage that incorporates the top layer of soil (eg. plowing) may dilute herbicide residues. Where banding was used, cultivation across the rows will also dilute the herbicide. Be sure to lime soils that have pH less than 6.0 before planting, so herbicide breakdown can occur all season.

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