Enlist Joins the Flag the Technology Program

From Cotton Grower Magazine – April 2015

 

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In a cotton landscape that could see the introduction of two new trait-tolerant cropping systems in the next two years, a program like Flag the Technology could provide some much-needed clarity.

The program, introduced by agronomists with the University of Arkansas in 2010, operates on a simple principle. Participating growers place a flag in each field to designate which herbicide technology is being utilized. Each participating technology has its own distinct flag to indicate which trait technology is represented in a given field. The idea is to keep any potentially harmful applications from being made.

Now, Dow AgroSciences’ Enlist Weed Control System has joined the movement. In late February, the company announced it was officially joining the Flag the Technology program and revealed its own flag.

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“We are now actively participating,” says Jonathan Siebert, Enlist field specialist for Dow AgroSciences. “We have our own flag design with our own unique colors.”

The new Enlist flag has teal coloring and features an Enlist logo along with two white stripes, which represent glyphosate tolerance. In cotton fields, the Enlist flag should be joined by a green flag, which denotes tolerance to glufosinate (Liberty).

Siebert says that although the program seems simple, it is also highly effective. Perhaps that’s why it has become so popular among farmers.

“Even though it’s a voluntary program, it’s been extremely successful and adopted by a lot of growers,” Siebert says. “It’s actually spread outside of Arkansas. The Southern Weed Science Society is chairing the expansion of the program so that uniform flag colors are used across the Mid-South and into Texas as well.”

The program was born out of the desire to avoid application mishaps in the rice market. Now, researchers say, with new technologies on the horizon in cotton, it’s only natural to import Flag the Technology to other row crops.

“It’s been an extremely successful program,” Siebert says. “People see it as a low-tech solution to a big problem out there. It’s pretty easy to stick a flag in the field and know what technology is there.”

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