Reading Time: 2 minutes [Question:] I had a weed called “chess” in my winter wheat crop at harvest. How did it get here? Is it a problem? And how do I get rid of it? [Answer:] How did it get here? Chess (scientifically known as Bromus secalinus) is also sometimes referred to as “cheat” or “rye brome.” It is […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Chess moves on winter wheat crop
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Pest Patrol: Mixing ‘crop enhancer’ with glyphosate for weed control
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes [Question:] I recently received this query. “I have a client who wants to mix a ‘crop enhancer’ with glyphosate to control weeds in glyphosate-tolerant soybeans. According to the manufacturer’s website, this product ‘can be combined with other applications (e.g. fertilizer, herbicides, insecticide, etc.).’ However, when I read the composition of the product, it appears to […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Keeping woodsorrel under control
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes A grower I work with is seeing more woodsorrel in corn and soybean fields. I can’t seem to find much information on how to control this weed. Any suggestions? Common yellow woodsorrel, although very common in lawns, pastures and “waste” areas, is rarely found in field crops since tillage often eliminates it. Because of this, […] Read more
Pest Patrol: How effective is tillage at controlling glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s a saying commonly used by advocates who would like to see more tillage used for weed control: “No herbicide resistance can evolve to cold hard steel.” I’m not here to discount the value of tillage for weed control, but this implies that tillage is foolproof. Although tillage can do a reasonably good job at […] Read more
Pest Patrol: How do I get better control of lamb’s quarters?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lamb’s quarters has consistently been identified as the most abundant and most problematic weed affecting field crop production in Ontario. Yet the Pest Management Regulatory Agency database contains hundreds of herbicides that list lamb’s quarters as either suppressed or controlled. It’s safe to say there is an arsenal of products available to farmers, but our […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Xtend soybeans, spray drift and controlling glyphosate-resistant fleabane
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes I want to plant Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans this season to control my glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane. But I keep hearing about the increased risk of drift with the dicamba-based herbicides. Is this fear mongering, or do I need to pay special attention when applying herbicides containing dicamba? We can learn a lot about the […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Enlist vs. Extend
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes What is the difference between Enlist and Roundup Ready 2 Xtend soybeans, and how good are they at controlling glyphosate-resistant weeds? The key selling point of each new seed system is that they have tolerance to specific “auxinic” herbicides that traditionally have been used to control weeds in corn and cereals, and in theory should […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Garlic mustard control
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes Are there any herbicides that I could use to control garlic mustard on the farm? Garlic mustard is an early flowering weed that’s highly visible at the edge of farm woodlots and around buildings and grain bins in the spring. Although garlic mustard is rarely found competing in agricultural crops, it can invade forests and […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Have genetically engineered (GE) crops resulted in more herbicide-resistant weeds in Ontario?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes There is a belief that the increased acreage planted to genetically engineered (GE) crops has led to an increase in herbicide-resistant weeds. However, results from the University of Guelph’s herbicide-resistant weed-testing laboratory indicate otherwise. Table 1 (below) summarizes the number of species confirmed as resistant to common herbicides used in Ontario during the past 40 […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Farmers are reducing weed seed return after cereal harvest
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was driving down a long country road and noticed two large fields where winter wheat had been harvested almost eight weeks earlier. Each had a beautiful thick canopy of oats. Figure 1 (at top). An oat cover crop planted almost eight weeks ago following winter wheat harvest. That same day, when I came across […] Read more
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