[Scene opens with a shot of young soybean rows with the Soy Masters badge and "Field Notes" overlaid on it. Drum and guitar music plays in the background. The text "Understanding the critical weed free period" shows. Scene switches to Bryce standing in a field, speaking to the camera.]
BRYCE: Hi, I'm Bryce Rampton, soybean product development agronomist for Syngenta in Western Canada. While it's always important to eliminate weeds in your field to reduce competition, there are certain points in time in the year that are more critical than others.
[Scene switches to show an illustration of the stages of soybean growth from seed to maturity. It highlights V1-V3 as the critical weed free period.]
BRYCE: In soybeans, the critical weed free period occurs from the first trifoliate stage to the third trifoliate stage. Any weeds that are recognized by the plants during this period can create a free fall in yield.
[Scene switches back to Bryce in the field, speaking to the camera.]
BRYCE: If we have weeds present in our fields that are recognized by the soybean seedlings, we could be losing up to two bushels per acre per day.
[Scene switches to Bryce kneeling in the field, inspecting the soybeans. There's a close-up shot of his hand on a freshly emerged plant.]
BRYCE: Even plants that are un-emerged can sense weeds that are growing on the soil surface.
[Scene switches back to Bryce in the field, speaking to the camera.]
BRYCE: Another thing to consider is when we're using wide rows to plant our soybeans. Often it takes a longer period of time for those plants to close in those rows.
[Scene shows a wide shot of a soybean field and its rows. It then shows a close-up of a row of young soybeans.]
BRYCE: If we're leaving bare ground between our rows, it gives weeds an opportunity to flush multiple times. And often it could take past the V3 period for those plants to fully close in those rows and compete with those weeds.
[Scene switches back to Bryce in the field, speaking to the camera.]
BRYCE: So remember there's three things to consider with the critical weed free period. One is: timing is everything. We want to start clean and stay clean. Yield loss can be calculated by the day - almost a half to two bushels per acre per day.
[Scene shows a close-up of hands examining young soybean plants. It then switches to a wide shot of a mature soybean field.]
BRYCE: And we want to make sure that we have a solid plan for controlling weeds from the pre-emerge period right through to the third trifoliate, and even to harvest for those other reasons we considered.
[Scene changes to a shot of young soybean rows with the Soy Masters badge overlaid on it with the text "Field Notes". Guitar music plays in the background.]