Are glyphosate resistant weeds on your radar?

Are Roundup (glyphosate) resistant weeds on your radar? They should be and not because they are in Western Canada but because they aren't ... yet. Ontario has confirmed glyphosate resistant giant ragweed exists in the province. The U.S. has nearly 10 million acres infested with some species of glyphosate resistant weed.

The New York Times carried this story today regarding glyphosate resistant weeds and how agriculture practices are going to have to adapt to handle this new biotype. The game plan is not pretty — a combination of other herbicides (and thus, more money) and a return to tillage.

Neither option is welcome, however the situation is not horribly dire; there are ways and means to deal with glyphosate resistant weeds. The rub, of course, is that both add cost without any real return and in some cases, adding tillage back into the management tool box may not be just costly, but it could also have environmental fall out.

What should we do then? An ounce of prevention is worth of a pound of cure. As discussed in the April 5, 2010 issue of Grainews (available online for subscribers), an integrated approach to weed management is key. Rotating herbicide groups, using tank mixes and scouting — then dealing with — herbicide escapes is paramount.

You can't afford not to.