Those wild oats are probably herbicide-resistant, but if you clip them now they won’t be able to germinate in greater numbers next year.

Season-long weed control strategies

Don’t only focus on spraying the young ones – also target the escapes before they get a chance to reproduce

Reading Time: 4 minutes If you’ve been focusing mainly on the CPWC, it may be time to switch strategy and add an “s.”  CPWC — the critical period for weed control — is the period of growth during which a crop must remain weed-free to prevent yield loss. Suppressing weeds in that period is the objective behind most control […] Read more

Farmers are looking for a solution to glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane, which is a growing concern.

Can less be more when tackling herbicide resistance?

A coming formulation of glufosinate seeks to cut rates yet maintain efficacy

Reading Time: 4 minutes In the past five years, growers across Canada have been hearing more and more about a new weed control mantra. It’s called “doing only what’s necessary.” Weeds continue to challenge and frustrate in the field, of course, and there are always new issues like resistance in species such as Canada fleabane in the East or […] Read more


RWOAC chair Eric Johnson wants to work with farmers to find out their ideas for managing resistant wild oats.

A new plan of attack for resistant wild oats

With more wild oats showing resistance to Group 8 herbicides, this action committee is going on the offence

Reading Time: 5 minutes In the 1970s, the Wild Oat Action Committee was formed to encourage farmers to control the pesky weed, especially with herbicides. Now a new version is back, but with an ironic twist — the herbicides aren’t working. A recent Prairie-wide study reveals 69 per cent of tested wild oats proved resistant to some modes of […] Read more

In this photo from Mike Cowbrough’s October 2019 Pest Patrol column in Country Guide, light-green waterhemp plants approach the top of a soybean canopy after two ineffective applications of glyphosate. (Supplied photo)

Group 27 herbicide resistance arrives in Canada

Mesotrione-resistant waterhemp confirmed in Quebec

Reading Time: 2 minutes A persistent and fiercely competitive weed that has developed resistance to several herbicide groups since its arrival in Canada is now the first in the country to fight off a Group 27 product. Quebec’s Reseau d’avertissement phytosanitaire (RAP) last Friday reported a patch of waterhemp with resistance to mesotrione herbicide in the Haut-Richelieu municipality, in […] Read more


The trouble with identifying waterhemp in the field is that growers often dismiss it as one of the other pigweed species.

The latest on waterhemp

Incredibly, the weed is already resistant to four modes of action in Ontario, with more in danger

Reading Time: 6 minutes In U.S. farm media circles, it seems that every week there’s another report, another bulletin, another research paper about waterhemp. Often it’s a confirmation of another find in a midwest county or state. More recently, reports indicate the weed is resistant to seven different modes of action with the latest — Group 15 herbicides — […] Read more

Canada fleabane seedlings that will be treated with glycine and glyphosate combinations in a growth chamber environment.

Pest Patrol: The continuing fight against glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane is found in 30 counties across Ontario and can cause yield losses exceeding 50 per cent in both corn and soybeans. Since there are only a few other herbicides that are effective at controlling it, this glyphosate-resistant weed has been one of the most troublesome weeds in Ontario. So, what if you […] Read more


Figure 1. An overhead look at the level of control that cereal rye has provided when it was seeded the previous fall (mid- November) at 60 lbs./ac. (left) compared to no cereal rye planted (right).

PHOTOS: Pest Patrol: Cover crops versus glyphosate-resistant weeds

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: < 1 minute Q: Can cover crops be an effective tool to manage glyphosate-resistant weeds? A: My colleague Dr. Clarence Swanton (University of Guelph) used to say that based on research he did in the 1980s, one should not expect to control weeds with cover crops. Their utility was in preventing soil erosion and improving soil health but […] Read more

Preliminary results suggest a built-in may outperform the Australian tow-behind version of the Harrington Seed Destructor in the hillier conditions in Western Canada.

If you can’t spray ’em, crush ’em

While there’s no single solution to herbicide resistance, the Harrington Seed Destructor may be part of the toolbox

Reading Time: 5 minutes Some of the most creative insights and practical solutions for battling herbicide-resistant weed control come from Australia. It was there, in 1996, that the world’s first documented case of glyphosate resistance was found in annual ryegrass, which is Australia’s No. 1 weed problem. As of January of this year, the Australian Glyphosate Sustainability Working Group […] Read more


AGCO introduced the new C Series RoGator with impressive upgrades in August.

New C Series RoGators

AGCO re-engineers its sprayer line with LiquidLogic technology

Reading Time: 2 minutes If there’s one word that’s taking up a lot of air in the room when it comes to herbicide discussions this year, it’s “resistance.” The growing threat from herbicide-resistant weeds has become a reality in nearly all regions and threatens to get much worse. Everyone in the industry is looking for solutions, and AGCO thinks […] Read more

Managing herbicide resistance costs

Managing herbicide resistance costs

Farmers considering herbicide resistance strategies are looking at the economics first

Reading Time: 5 minutes There are several reasons many farmers haven’t yet adopted herbicide resistance management (HRM) plans. These include a lack of information, the complexity of different management strategies and limited time. But a major reason is still economics. Many farmers worry about the costs of implementing a resistance management plan, especially if they’re uncertain about the potential […] Read more