Survey Shows Growers Plan To Change Weed Control Strategies In 2014

Posted by Rosemary Gordon|December 4, 2013

Three out of four growers who participated in a recent survey by BASF suspect that glyphosate resistance is a cause of their difficult to control weeds. As a result, 76% of these growers have already changed their weed management program to address resistance.

In addition, many growers have experienced lower yields, which they attribute to resistant weeds. These growers have also spent more time scouting and invested more money in their crops due to resistant weeds.

In the survey, growers identified how they plan to change their programs in 2014. More than two-thirds of growers indicated that they would be applying a pre-emergence herbicide this season and more than half of growers are planning to add an additional herbicide to their existing program. Additionally, 50% of growers plan to use more than one site of action and 47% said they plan on using overlapping residual herbicides to control resistant weeds.

“These results show that growers are beginning to understand the need for a comprehensive weed management approach,” said Greg Armel, technical market manager, BASF. “Growers are realizing the importance of using residual herbicides and multiple, overlapping herbicide sites of action.”

The survey also highlighted the weeds that growers found the toughest to control in 2013. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said waterhemp was the most difficult to control, while 54% said that ragweed species were the toughest to control. Lambsquarter and marestail were also identified as difficult weeds.