Oxyfluorfen,(Goal and Galigan) has become a popular and effective herbicide for use on cole crops even though it was first registered in the 1980’s. Oxyfluorfen is a contact herbicide with the same mode of action as Chateau, Aim, Shark, Gramoxone, Paraquat ,Sharpen and ET. They are all PPO Inhibitors that rupture cell membranes. Carfentrazone(Aim,Shark), ET and Paraquat(Gramoxone), are effective only as postemergence applications to small weeds, Sharpen and Goal are effective both preemergence and early postemergence and Chateau is used only preemergence but can cause severe crop injury if mixed with a surfactant. The only one of these that is registered for cole crops is Oxyflurofen( Goal, GoalTender , Galigan). It does not make sense for a contact herbicide to be used on weeds that have not emerged. The way this works is that a barrier is created with the herbicide on the surface that kills the seedling weeds as they come in contact with it. It is important not to disturb this barrier or the weeds will not be effected. Oxyfluorfen (Goal) is a herbicide that defies reason in other ways as well. It normally adheres strongly to the soil and has very low water solubility. It is well known, however, that Goal can lift off of the surface and cause crop injury. When this happens it is evaporating or going from a liquid to a gas and this is unaffected by its solubility or adsorption.

Click picture to listen to Barry's update

To contact Barry Tickes go to: btickes@ag.arizona.edu.

For questions or comments on any of the topics please contact Marco Pena at the Yuma Agricultural Center.
College of Agriculture, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.