Reading Time: < 1 minute To help keep herbicide-resistant weeds at bay, some older soil-applied products are rejoining the fight. At the 2015 Crop Diagnostic School, Jeanette Gaultier, pesticide use specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, talks about which herbicide-resistant weeds producers should watch for and what they need to consider before choosing a herbicide for their situation.
VIDEO: “Old soil-applied” solutions for herbicide resistance weeds
Crop Diagnostic School: Know your target weed issues before choosing a herbicide
PHOTOS: Pest Patrol: Giant hogweed, and its look-alike that’s far more friendly
A farmer asks, “I’m worried about giant hogweed because I hear it causes severe dermatitis and blindness. How do I identify it?”
Reading Time: < 1 minute When plant parts of giant hogweed are torn open, the plant exudes a sap that contains light-activated chemicals known as furanocoumarins. When these compounds come in contact with the skin, they cause burn-like rashes and/or blisters, the severity of which will depend on how much sap you are exposed to. There is one very common […] Read more
Controlling crop weeds with beneficial insects
Flea beetles that eat leafy spurge are only the first wave of biological weed control
Reading Time: 5 minutes What is it about weeds? No matter how hard you try to eradicate them, they always come back. Worse still, each method of weed control has its drawbacks. Spraying with herbicides can lead to weed resistance if the same product is used continuously. Tillage can result in soil erosion (remember the Dirty ’30s?), and although […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Are there any promising new mechanical methods for weed control?
The Harrington seed destructor is one possibility to help avoid spreading weed seed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ray Harrington, an innovative farmer from Western Australia was struggling with herbicide-resistant weeds, so he took matters into his own hands by using a cage mill from an old mine that he adapted to process the chaff coming out the back of his combine. A team from the University of Western Australia, led by Michael […] Read more
PHOTOS: Seed destructors for weed control
Reading Time: < 1 minute A team from the University of Western Australia conducted a number of on-farm research trials to evaluate the effectiveness of the Harrington seed destructor. The results were impressive with greater than 90 per cent seed destroyed in the chaff of a number of different weed species.
New research shows how your crop gets a sneak peek at weeds
It turns out your crop sees and reacts to weeds before the crop even emerges
Reading Time: 6 minutes Weed science is constantly evolving and adapting as it learns more about the basic interactions of crops and weeds in the field. Now, get ready for another evolutionary rethink. Early in 2014, Dr. Clarence Swanton, a professor and researcher with the department of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph, brought to light new research […] Read more
Weed management. It’s time to get ahead before it’s too late
With herbicide resistance on the rise, is integrated weed management an idea whose time has finally arrived?
Reading Time: 5 minutes If you want to know how bad weed resistance can get, ask the cotton farmers of Georgia about Palmer amaranth. From a single field in Macon County in 2005, glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth has exploded across the southern U.S. Cotton Belt. A member of the pigweed family, Palmer amaranth has seriously affected weed management in cotton […] Read more
Fighting weed resistance head on
Fighting weed resistance will be a long, tough battle, but the latest information says farmers are definitely paying attention
Reading Time: 5 minutes Doing chores on a mixed farm in South Australia, Josh Lade dreamed of working on a really big grain farm. It was a dream that intensified as he was growing up, like when he used to put in shifts on the large inland grain operation owned by members of his mother’s side of the family. […] Read more
Drift versus volatility when spraying your crop
Spraying on a quiet, still morning is the best way to cut your drift risk, right? (Answer: No!)
Reading Time: 7 minutes Just when farming already seemed complicated enough, here are more misconceptions that science is disproving. Except this time, the new findings will help more growers get more value from their crop protection dollar. The best part is, you’re probably one of those growers too. Drift — Physical Trying to paint drift as worse than volatility, […] Read more
Herbicide resistance isn’t getting any better
Herbicide resistance is almost guaranteed to keep getting worse. But you might be able to keep it manageable on your farm
Reading Time: 6 minutes Wild oats have reigned as Western Canada’s worst weed for about 40 years, and multiple herbicide resistance and farmers’ reluctance to alter their practices may ensure the title doesn’t change hands in the foreseeable future. “Based on our surveys, we estimate that over half of the cultivated land in the Prairies — about 36 million […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
