the present invention relates to an agriculturally acceptable herbicidal , shelf - stable ready to use or shelf - stable aqueous concentrate formulation of n - phosphonomethylglycine or a water soluble salt of n - phosphonomethylglycine or salts or mixtures thereof , with one or more c 5 to c 16 or preferably c 8 to c 12 saturated or unsaturated , straight or branched chained fatty acid itself or in the form of a salt , salts or various mixtures thereof . various optional ingredients may also be employed if desired although not required . greater or lesser amounts of those optional additiments may be employed as desired . when the application ph of the formulation of the present invention is in the range from about 6 . 4 to about 7 . 25 , and more preferably in the range from about 6 . 8 to about 7 . 0 , the formulations of this invention show increased shelf - stability in that they do not experience separation such as salting out or settling out of one or more ingredients when stored for prolonged periods of time at normal room temperatures or when undergoing accelerated aging studies done at 50 ° c . or 60 ° c . or at freezing temperatures . as used herein , the phrase “ early burndown symptoms ” means visible plant symptoms characteristic of the contact action of a fatty acid or a salt thereof upon the leaf of a plant when applied in an effective amount alone to the surface of a plant . such symptoms illustratively include necrosis , leafburn , desiccation , wilting and the like as visible evidence of herbicidal effectiveness . as used herein , the term “ long term control ” means a significant inhibition of regrowth which is achieved through the use of a herbicidally effective amount of glyphosate ( or glyphosate salt or a mixture thereof ) on a plant to be killed or controlled . the formulation of the present invention contains at least one water - soluble salt of glyphosate or a mixture of such salts . several processes for the preparation of glyphosate and its water soluble salts are disclosed in the patent and chemical literature , e . g ., u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 977 , 860 and 4 , 486 , 358 . illustrative suitable water - soluble salts of glyphosate useful in the present invention are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 405 , 531 . the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate is most preferred in the formulation , preparation of the formulation and use of the present invention . if desired , one or more of ammonium sulfate or potassium sulfate or any other compatible active or compatible nonactive ingredient may be employed as an additional ingredient ( s ) in a process for preparing a formulation of the present invention , in its preparation and its use . if ammonium sulfate is used during the formulation process , the formulation is normally filtered ( or optional equivalent means ) to remove any insoluble particulate materials which may be present in some commercial grades of ammonium sulfate . the concentrates and solutions of the invention may contain optional additional components , for example anti - freeze agents such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol . other examples are dyes , thickening agents , anti - foam agents , for instance silicone - based anti - foam agents , and surfactants , for instance non - ionic or cationic surfactants . additional illustrative suitable nonionic surfactants are recited in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 405 , 531 supra . other suitable nonionic surfactants will be known to those skilled in the art . other surfactants which may be employed include alkylamine oxides , alkyl glucosides , ethoxylated or propoxylated quaternary amines and dialkylacetylene surfactants . particularly preferred , although optional , is an ethoxylated tallow amine surfactant having a degree of ethoxylation in the range from about 15 to about 18 , mixtures thereof and the like . one such surfactant is entry ii , sold by monsanto company , st . louis , mo . usa . the amount of surfactant optionally employed is typically in the range from about 0 to about 2 percent by weight of a ready to use formulation of a spray solution formed by dilution with water of a concentrate formulation of this invention . the concentrates and ready to use solutions of this invention may also be mixed with other water - soluble herbicides , for example but not limited to , salts of 2 , 4 - dichlorophenoxyacetic acid , dicamba or 4 - chloro - 2 - methylphenoxyacetic acid , or with finely - divided water - insoluble herbicides , for example but not limited to triazines , substituted ureas , sulfonylureas diphenyl ethers , dinitroanilines , pyridines and the like . while roundup ® herbicide is the preferred source of a glyphosate water soluble salt , other suitable formulations providing a water soluble glyphosate salt or glyphosate acid may be employed if desired . alternatively , the water soluble glyphosate salt or an aqueous solution thereof may be prepared and then added directly as one of the process preparation steps . some compositions of the invention were prepared by stirring about a 62 percent by weight aqueous solution of the mono - isopropylamine salt of glyphosate at about room temperature with the desired amount of fatty acid as a potassium salt and optionally , with a saturated solution of ammonium sulfate . the formulations of the present invention may be conveniently prepared by mixing the desired ingredients together as in a blender or in any suitable container of device producing the needed amount of agitation resulting in mixed ingredients . ( 1 ) adding all or a portion of the desired amount of initial water in a first container , ( 2 ) adding a portion of water and potassium hydroxide to the desired amount of fatty acid in a separate container to form a premix , ( 3 ) adding the fatty acid containing the potassium hydroxide in the premix from the separate container to the first container containing the initial water , 4 ) adding a water soluble salt of n - phosphonomethylglycine alone with surfactant to the first container to form a desired final non ph adjusted mixture / solution , 5 ) adjusting the mixture / solution to a final desired ph by adding appropriate amounts of a concentrated potassium hydroxide solution and thereafter if desired , 6 ) admixing any remaining water and optional ingredients such as an anti - microbial for example proxel ® gxl ( cas 2634 - 33 - 5 ), sorbic acid , legend mk , mixtures thereof and the like . the conversion of a fatty acid such as pelargonic acid to salt such as a potassium salt is the step requiring most scrutiny of the process of this invention . pelargonic acid is a thin , clear oil at room temperature which sits on the surface of water when added . with mild agitation , the conversion time to form the salt of the fatty acid is slow . extreme agitation and long batch stirring time are generally necessary to make the conversion complete which is desired . in laboratory test batches , preparation of formulations of this invention was generally done by making the fatty acid salt in a separate smaller premix vessel using a beaker and vigorous agitation . this premix was then added to the already mixed ingredients in a larger first container . as used herein the term “ vigorous agitation ” includes stirring or mixing by any mechanical or equivalent means to produce a well mixed composition providing thorough blending . the process of preparing a formulation of this invention may be done at temperatures in the range from about 10 ° c . to about 100 ° c . and preferably from about 20 ° c . to about 40 ° c . as another optional ingredient , an anti - foam agent may be included . various suitable anti - foam agents include sag 47 which is preferred as an anti - foam agent and silicone anti foam ® 30 ind . the amount of anti - foam agent optionally employed is that which is sufficient to control and reduce an amount of foam which may be formed during the process of preparation of the formulation of this invention to a desired satisfactory level from a user &# 39 ; s viewpoint . generally the concentration of anti - foam agent is in the range from about 0 . 001 % by weight of the total ingredients to about 0 . 1 % although greater or lesser amounts of optional anti - foam agent may be employed . alternatively , a premix of about 1 part by weight roundup ® herbicide , about 2 parts water and potassium hydroxide as a 20 percent by weight solution was used to form a premix . pelargonic acid was blended in this premix but thereafter separated easily . the benefit of this ( alternative ) process of preparation was that the premix went into the batch water with only mild agitation . care must be given to prevent possible heat residue in the premix beaker . the most preferred previously described process requires some agitation . it may be likely that the addition of the fatty acid at the suction side of a flow through homogenizer tekmar for example , into the potassium hydroxide composition would be sufficient to produce the desired amount of agitation . in a preferred process for preparing formulations of this invention , the vessel wherein the formulation will be 50 gallons or more is initially charged with about 25 % of the total desired water . gentle agitation or recirculation is begun during and after this initial water addition . a base providing hydroxide in water is added as is optionally an ethoxylated tallowamine surfactant such as entry ii ® surfactant , sold by monsanto company , st . louis , mo . usa . agitation is increased and the added fatty acid is allowed to react . when the reaction is considered complete , the fatty acid appears homogeneous and not aggregated at the surface of the resulting composition . about half of the remaining desired water is added as are desired amounts of the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate , and optionally proxel and sag 47 with time allowed for adequate mixing . thereafter remaining desired water is added and the ph is adjusted using potassium hydroxide . ready to use formulations having c 9 or c 10 fatty acids in the range from about 0 . 5 to about 1 % by weight of the total spray weight were the most effective formulations from a herbicidal efficacy viewpoint with mixtures thereof providing similar efficacy . the formulations of the present invention can be readily used as prepared or further diluted in water by a user in a spray container prior to use , although those of skill in the art will recognize that the dilution will have a practical dilution limit set by efficacy . suitable herbicidally efficacious application rates of glyphosate will vary depending on plant species , weather , climate and geography . the spray volume is in the range from about 10 to about 1000 gallons per acre ( gpa ) preferably from about 50 to about 250 gpa . u . s . pat . no . 3 , 799 , 758 provides illustrative application rates of glyphosate on an acid equivalent basis . the following examples are presented to illustrate the present invention as well as some of the various embodiments of the invention . these examples are presented as being illustrative of the novel formulations and are not intended to be a limitation of the scope thereof . rather these examples are intended to teach by illustration and provide what is believed to be a useful and readily understood description of procedures to make and use the invention . in the examples , all parts , percentages and properties are by weight unless otherwise indicated . in some examples , comparative formulations illustrative of the prior art were made and compared to compositions of this invention . tall fescue , common bermuda , common dandelion , sweet clover and large crabgrass were grown from seed in 4 inch square pots containing a mixture of soil and commercial soil conditioners . after planting , the soil was kept moist and seedlings emerged in 5 - 8 days . approximately 2 weeks after emergence , plants were mowed to a uniform height of 6 cm . height was maintained at 6 cm with 3 mowings per week for fescue , bermuda and crabgrass and with 1 mowing per week for dandelion and clover . unless otherwise noted , all species except crabgrass were about 8 weeks old at the time of treatment . crabgrass was 4 - 5 weeks old . treatments were applied with a devilbiss atomizer using compressed air . chemicals were formulated as described for individual tests . for quick symptom development ( 1 - 3 dat ), evaluations were made on a 0 - 3 scale where percent control ratings at later time periods were made on a 0 - 100 scale where 0 = no effect and 100 is complete death . results are the average of 2 replications . combinations of c 8 - c 12 saturated fatty acids as their potassium salt with gy glyphosate and an ethoxylated tallow amine surfactant having a degree of ethoxylation of about 15 to 18 were prepared . eight formulations containing either 0 . 5 % or 1 % c 8 , c 9 , c 10 or c 12 saturated fatty acids in 0 . 96 % glyphosate - ipa and 0 . 36 % ethoxylated tallow amine surfactant were applied respectively at 225 , 112 or 56 gallons per acre to 8 week old fescue and bermuda , 5 week old dandelion and sweet clover and 4 week old crabgrass . visual observations of burndown were made 1 dat ( day after treatment ) on 0 - 3 scale and at 26 dat on 0 - 100 scale . results are in table 1 . eight week old tall fescue and bermuda , 4 week old crabgrass and 2 week old yellow nutsedge were sprayed with c 9 and c 10 saturated fatty acids at 0 . 5 and 1 % w / v alone and in mixtures at volumes of 56 , 112 and 225 gal / a . yellow nutsedge had not been mowed prior to spraying . visual observations of burndown were made on a 0 - 3 scale 1 dat and percent control was evaluated on a 0 - 100 scale 29 dat . results are in table 2 . in table 2 following c 9 and c 10 fatty acids and mixtures of both give significant enhancement of final control of yellow nutsedge by glyphosate , as indicated . mixtures appear more potent in this regard than either c 9 or c 10 fatty acid on its own . the fatty acids without glyphosate have zero effect on yellow nutsedge . yellow nutsedge is a major problem weed and one that is typically difficult to control with glyphosate - based products . formulations containing 0 . 96 % ipa - glyphosate ( 0 . 74 % ae ) and 0 . 4 % ethoxylated tallow amine surfactant having a degree of ethoxylation of 15 to 18 were prepared as shown in table 3a . in addition a concentrated formulation containing 16 . 5 % ipa - glyphosate , 6 . 15 % ethoxylated tallow amine surfactant having a degree of ethoxylation of 15 to 18 and 4 . 1 % c 9 4 . 1 % c 10 fatty acid was diluted and sprayed at the same final concentration of active . treatments were applied at 56 and 112 gal / a . visual observations of injury were recorded 1 , 3 and 25 days after treatment . results are shown in tables 3a and 3b . use of c 9 saturated fatty acid for enhanced burndown with roundup ® llg ready - to - use herbicide . results of treatments of roundup ® llg ready - to - use herbicide alone and in mixture with c 9 saturated fatty acid at 0 . 5 % and at 1 . 0 % of the spray solution are shown in table 4 . the effect of ph adjustment on performance of a mixture of roundup ® llg ready - to - use herbicide containing 1 % c 9 saturated fatty acid is shown in table 5 . although this invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments , the details hereof are not to be construed as limitations , for it will be apparent that various equivalents , changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention and it is understood that such equivalent embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of this invention .
this invention relates to a novel aqueous agriculturally acceptable formulation , a process used to prepare it and a pesticidal method of using it in application to plants or weeds to kill or control plants or weeds . the formulation comprises an effective amount of n - phosphonomethylglycine or an agriculturally acceptable salt of n - phosphonomethylglycine and an effective amount of at least one c 5 to c 16 or preferably a c 8 to c 12 agriculturally acceptable fatty acid itself or in the form of an agriculturally acceptable water soluble salt or mixtures thereof . other ingredients are optional , including surfactant , antifoam and antimicrobial or other ingredients such as pesticides including herbicides , insecticides and fungicides .