Field and greenhouse experiments were conducted in 2008, 2009, and 2010 to evaluate the efficacy of glyphosate combined with other broadleaf herbicides on herbicide-resistant and -susceptible weeds in Illinois. In the field, the addition of lactofen or fomesafen to glyphosate provided the greatest consistency and control of problematic target weeds including common waterhemp and giant ragweed. Applications of glyphosate tank-mixtures at EPOST provided 10% greater control of giant ragweed compared with the same treatments at POST. The addition of a tank-mix herbicide with glyphosate provided the greatest impact on weed control when applied to glyphosate-resistant common waterhemp with control increasing by 67% compared with glyphosate applied alone. The addition of a tank-mix herbicide with glyphosate had little impact on control of PPO-resistant and herbicide-susceptible common waterhemp. Generally, the addition of an adjuvant to herbicide mixtures with glyphosate did not influence weed control 14 DAT compared with no additional adjuvant. However, the addition of PO-HSOC and SO-HSOC to glyphosate tank-mixtures containing fomesafen and cloransulam increased annual morningglory control compared with no additional adjuvant.

In the greenhouse, PPO-inhibiting herbicides (fomesafen, lactofen, flumiclorac, fluthiacet) applied with glyphosate resulted in additive and antagonistic responses depending on the PPO-inhibitor used and the common waterhemp biotype. Generally, glyphosate tank-mixtures applied to PPO-resistant and herbicide-susceptible common waterhemp biotypes resulted in a greater frequency of antagonism than that of a glyphosate-resistant biotype. The efficacy of glyphosate tank-mixtures was also influenced by environmental conditions shortly before and after the herbicide application. Glyphosate tank-mixtures usually resulted in greater efficacy on common waterhemp when applied at 24 C with 75% RH than at 32 C with 40% RH, regardless of tank-mix herbicide or common waterhemp biotype.

Although this research supports an improvement in control of glyphosate-resistant common waterhemp with the addition of PPO-inhibiting herbicides to glyphosate, the overall herbicide efficacy was still somewhat variable with evidence for environmental conditions that may alter efficacy of the tank mixtures. Thus, the use of preemergence, soil residual herbicides are still justified to reduce reliance on these postemergence herbicide mixtures for weed control in soybean and ultimately deter further selection of common waterhemp populations resistant to glyphosate and PPO-inhibiting herbicides.