Name brands may come and go, but some herbicide products have evolutionized the way we farm. Micheal Owen, professor of agronomy at Iowa State University, lets us stroll down memory lane to review 10 “classic” herbicides, listed in no particular order.

Glyphosate revolutionized weed control when this nonselective herbicide was teamed up with the Roundup Ready trait.

Atrazine is a part of most weed control programs in corn today. It is inexpensive, used in new (and older) herbicide tankmix combinations, and supports conservation tillage.

2,4-D is more than 60 years old and still controls most major weed problems in corn. It also is versatile for use in soybeans as an early preplant application.

Dicamba was introduced in the late 1960s and remains a versatile corn herbicide.

Prowl (pendimethalin) continues to be a good product for control of annual grasses and small-seeded annual broadleaf weeds in corn and soybeans.

Liberty is an alternative for glyphosate in LibertyLink crops and to date has limited weed-resistance issues. Recently, it has been called Ignite.

Pursuit is one of the first herbicides growers relied on for total post weed control programs. It garnered significant market share in soybeans.

Basagran was one of the first post-planting selective herbicides for soybeans. It provided control of many difficult annual broadleaf weeds.

Dual and Lasso were mainstays in the mid to late 1970s. They allowed farmers to apply residual herbicides without significant tillage, which gave rise to the conservation tillage movement. These and other similar products still provide excellent control of annual grasses and small-seeded broadleaf weeds in corn and soybeans.

Treflan was one of the first DNA herbicides commercially available. It was a dominant soybean product for many years and gave rise to the commercial development of several other DNA herbicides, including Tolban, Cobex, Sonalan, Prowl, Basalin, and Endurance.