When Brett Reiss talks about the next generation of Reiss farmers, you can feel how proud he is of his daughters. His 9-year-old is running the planter and combining crops with his supervision. She already knows what the controls do and how to use them. 

“The other evening, she was with me while I was planting and she got behind the wheel,” Reiss says. “I was about to tell her what to do, but she looked at me and said, ‘I got this, Dad.’ And she did. She planted the last 20 to 25 acres.”

This year, Reiss — or his daughter — planted wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton. With the wheat set and the corn and cotton coming up, the season is off to a good start. He’s particularly excited about his cotton and calls it the bright, shining spot in his crop mix.

Reiss is growing PhytoGen^® cottonseed with the Enlist^™ trait on 100% of his cotton acres. He has experienced the weed control and on-target applications of Enlist herbicides the past two years. Impressed by the breakthrough technology, he uses Enlist herbicides in a program approach to target tough weeds, especially kochia and pigweed. He aims to make postemergence weed control applications by June 15. However, he may make applications earlier depending on weather and weed pressure.

“With some weeds — like pigweed — you just don’t wait for more to come up,” he says. “You go out and get them right away, and if you have to make a second post application, you do. You have to be proactive.”

He selected preemergence herbicides to target kochia the last few years. Now with it under control, Reiss is employing different preemergence herbicides to home in on the pigweed. Applying preemergents with residual activity and different modes of action helps sustain the Enlist technology.

“With the Enlist system, weed control went well,” Reiss says. “Cotton fields are clean; applications have been on-target.”

With more cottonseed varieties available for his geography, Reiss is growing more cotton than in the past. Top that with a favorable weather forecast for the season, and Reiss smiles at the potential for good crops and yield.

“We think our crops will thrive,” Reiss says. Looking ahead, he’s also interested in using the Enlist^™ weed control system in soybeans in 2020. 

“I’m excited about Enlist E3 soybeans,” he says. “In our bean fields this last year, we had escaped marestail and pigweeds that we just simply couldn’t control. Enlist is going to allow us to put on another mode of action to help handle some of those hard-to-control weeds. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the product and trying the Enlist E3 soybeans.”

His youngest daughter may challenge him to see who can grow the best soybean crop. At just 4 years old, she knows how to dig up plants to see how they are progressing.

“She went to the edge of the field by our house and dug up a few seeds and replanted them,” Reiss says. “Now she has soybeans growing by her playhouse outside.”

Read about more farmers’ experiences with the Enlist system at ExperiencingEnlist.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at @EnlistOnline and on YouTube.

_{™®Enlist, Enlist Duo, Enlist E3, the Enlist Logos and Enlist One are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences, DuPont or Pioneer, and their affiliated companies or their respective owners. ®PhytoGen and the PhytoGen Logo are trademarks of PhytoGen Seed Company, LLC. PhytoGen Seed Company is a joint venture between Mycogen Corporation, an affiliate of Dow AgroSciences LLC, and the J.G. Boswell Company. Enlist E3™ soybeans were jointly developed by Dow AgroSciences and MS Technologies. Enlist Duo® and Enlist One® herbicides are not registered for use in all states or counties. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your area. Enlist Duo and Enlist One herbicides are the only 2,4-D products authorized for use with Enlist crops. Consult Enlist herbicide labels for weed species controlled. Always read and follow label directions. ©2019 Corteva}