Although some feared the worst after last year when some drought-stressed hybrids dropped ears before the combine arrived and others simply fell apart, reports of volunteer corn in soybeans were minimal this year.

For a long time now, the possibility of glyphosate or glufosinate-resistant volunteer corn in soybeans the year after growing that type of corn has been a possibility. However, several good grass herbicides for soybeans also kill corn.

Down it goes: Volunteer corn will still fall the next year if you use the Enlist weed control system when available. You may have to spray a different product to knock down volunteer corn growing from ears left behind after that crop than you did before.

The issue is coming back up again because when Dow AgroSciences launches the Enlist weed control system with Enlist Duo herbicide, possibly in 2015, the corn that is resistant to Dow’s Enlist Duo herbicide will also carry resistance to herbicides in the FOP family. That includes Assure and some other grass herbicides for soybeans. In theory, the volunteer corn growing from an ear of Enlist Duo-resistant corn would not be bothered by Assure.

However, Damon Palmer, who manages the Enlist weed control program in the U.S., says there are other alternatives. Some other grass herbicides with different chemistry will still be effective against volunteer corn in soybeans, including Select.

It’s just another question Dow team members are answering as they prepare to launch their products. Enlist Duo contains a version of 2,4-D with Colex-D technology developed by Dow AgroSciences, plus glyphosate. This version does not volatilize to any degree that regular 2,4-D can, moving off the target field onto a susceptible crop. Sprayed with drift-retardant nozzles, drift is also cut to a fraction of what’s possible with regular 2,4-D.

The original thought was that the Enlist weed control system would be launched for corn next year, but regulatory agencies asked for more information before issuing the labels. That occurred last winter. Now officials with Dow say a launch of both corn and soybeans is possible in 2015. They believe farmers need the technology to provide more modes of action and help combat resistant weeds.