Which 2,4-D Product Should I Use as a Burndown Before Planting Enlist E3® Soybean?

Apr 27, 2022

By Amit Jhala and Sarah Sivits et.al

Enlist corn and Enlist soybean producers in Nebraska will be able to use Enlist ONE (2,4-D Choline) and Enlist DUO (2,4-D Choline + Glyphosate) herbicides in the 2022 growing season after the United States Environmental Protection Agency revised guideline on March 29, 2022.

Growers are preparing to terminate broadleaf cover crop species and winter annual broadleaf weeds using 2,4-D products and are trying to find the best product options. Many growers and crop consultants were particularly interested in whether 2,4-D products such as LV4 ester, amine, etc. could be applied to terminate broadleaf cover crop species such as hairy vetch, field peas, or mixtures and broadleaf weeds such as henbit, field pennycress or marestail immediately before planting Enlist™ soybean. The answer for these 2,4-D-based herbicides listed above is NO. This is because their labels require soybean planting intervals to be anywhere from seven to 30 days after application, depending on the product and its use rate.

For the use of 2,4-D ester products, the standard recommendation allows application of up to 0.5 lb active ingredient per acre (1 pint of a 4 lb per gallon formulation) at least seven days before soybean planting. Rates higher than 0.5 lb, but not exceeding 1 lb (1 quart of a 4 lb per gallon formulation) must be applied at least 30 days before soybean planting. These recommendations are designed to prevent the 2,4-D ester from injuring soybean.

This longer planting interval must be applied because Enlist™ soybean is not listed on LV4 ester, amine or other generic 2,4-D products.

Enlist E3® soybean became available commercially in 2019. Two 2,4-D products (Enlist ONE® and Enlist DUO®) are labeled to be applied pre-plant, pre-emergence or post-emergence (up to R1 soybean growth stage) for weed control in Enlist soybean. Thus, for those asking about using 2,4-D products such as LV4 ester, amine, etc. to terminate cover crop and weed species immediately after planting Enlist soybean, the answer is also NO, because these products are not labeled for use in Enlist soybean.

Take Home Message

You can use 2,4-D products such as Enlist ONE® (2,4-D choline) or Enlist DUO® (2,4-D choline + glyphosate) as per label requirements in a burndown application and plant Enlist soybean without a planting interval. You can also use these products as pre-plant, pre-emergence or post-emergence (up to R1 soybean growth stage) in Enlist soybean.
You can NOT use 2,4-D products such as 2,4-D LV4 ester, amine, etc. and immediately plant Enlist soybean. If you use these products, you have to maintain a soybean planting interval of seven to 30 days, depending on 2,4-D product used and its application rate. Read the label.
Do NOT apply any 2,4-D based herbicide before or after planting Roundup Ready 2 Xtend® soybean as this trait is not resistant to any 2,4-D product.
Dicamba based products such as Engenia®, Tavium®, or XtendiMax® can be applied pre-plant, pre-emergence, or post-emergence in Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybean.

Source : unl.edu

Video: Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

In a world of PowerPoint overload, Rex Bernardo stands out. No bullet points. No charts. No jargon. Just stories and photographs. At this year’s National Association for Plant Breeding conference on the Big Island of Hawaii, he stood before a room of peers — all experts in the science of seeds — and did something radical: he showed them images. He told them stories. And he asked them to remember not what they saw, but how they felt.

Bernardo, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has spent his career searching for the genetic treasures tucked inside what plant breeders call exotic germplasm — ancient, often wild genetic lines that hold secrets to resilience, taste, and traits we've forgotten to value.

But Bernardo didn’t always think this way.

“I worked in private industry for nearly a decade,” he recalls. “I remember one breeder saying, ‘We’re making new hybrids, but they’re basically the same genetics.’ That stuck with me. Where is the new diversity going to come from?”

For Bernardo, part of the answer lies in the world’s gene banks — vast vaults of seed samples collected from every corner of the globe. Yet, he says, many of these vaults have quietly become “seed morgues.” “Something goes in, but it never comes out,” he explains. “We need to start treating these collections like living investments, not museums of dead potential.”

That potential — and the barriers to unlocking it — are deeply personal for Bernardo. He’s wrestled with international policies that prevent access to valuable lines (like North Korean corn) and with the slow, painstaking science of transferring useful traits from wild relatives into elite lines that farmers can actually grow. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s convinced that success starts not in the lab, but in the way we communicate.

“The fact sheet model isn’t cutting it anymore,” he says. “We hand out a paper about a new variety and think that’s enough. But stories? Plants you can see and touch? That’s what stays with people.”

Bernardo practices what he preaches. At the University of Minnesota, he helped launch a student-led breeding program that’s working to adapt leafy African vegetables for the Twin Cities’ African diaspora. The goal? Culturally relevant crops that mature in Minnesota’s shorter growing season — and can be regrown year after year.

“That’s real impact,” he says. “Helping people grow food that’s meaningful to them, not just what's commercially viable.”

He’s also brewed plant breeding into something more relatable — literally. Coffee and beer have become unexpected tools in his mission to make science accessible. His undergraduate course on coffee, for instance, connects the dots between genetics, geography, and culture. “Everyone drinks coffee,” he says. “It’s a conversation starter. It’s a gateway into plant science.”