David Moseley, Daniel Stephenson, Donnie Miller, and James Villegas, LSU AgCenter Scientists

Use of herbicides as a desiccant in soybean has become popular to potentially improve harvest efficiency in Louisiana. For more information, please see the LSU AgCenter factsheet Desiccating Soybean.

A few important things to consider when apply desiccants in soybean as a harvest aid include:

1. Always follow the label.

2. Soybean pods/seed that are not at R6.5 (where the membrane is separated from the seed) will result in smaller seed size if the plant shuts down too early.

3. Control of Red-banded stinkbugs should be considered up until harvest if they are above threshold.