Last May we conducted our “Lettuce Insect and Weed Losses Survey”.  Thank you for participating and providing real world data that shows us what are the trends in herbicide usage. Arizona does not require complete reporting for private applicators, so we appreciate you providing this difficult to acquire information. In addition to herbicide use we included in the most recent survey questions related to other methods of weed control such as automated thinning, automated weeding, cultivation hand weed control. The results reflect data obtained from PCAs in more than 54,000 acres of lettuce scouted and we believe they accurately represent what goes on in the field. Results of the weed section for the 2022-2023 season appear in the chart below. Some highlights of last season (Figure 1) are that 79% of the acres were treated with Pronamide (Kerb), 53% with Bensulide (Prefar) and 19% with Benefin (Balan). This is consistent with a previous survey conducted in 2018-2019. Regarding grass herbicides, last season shows that 24% of the acres surveyed received an application of Clethodim products and 1% of Sethoxidim. With respect to automated thinning, it is interesting that it was used in 60% of the acres representing an increase from 2018-19, which was reported on 40% of the reported acres (Tickes 2019)¹.
Additionally, we can see that automated weeding was used in 6% of the acres, which could increase in the future as the industry prepares for possible scarce labor resources. The hand weeding and cultivation continues to be a control strategy that is used in most of the acres in our area with 91 and 71% respectively.