The weed resistance revolt is growing and conditions this year are ripe for a bigger battle than ever against those rebellious yield robbers.

“It’s been a really weird winter and we just really don’t know what to expect,” says GROWMARK Weed Science Technical Manager Barry Nash, noting that the lack of any significant freeze may increase the weed pressure faster this year. “As a result we fully expect to see weed germination of the summer annuals by the end of March.”

That includes waterhemp and Palmer Amaranth (pictured), which is on the increase in the Midwest. “So, it’s very critical that we get on these weeds and start a weed control program early by using a pre-plant herbicide as well as a post-emergence program later in the summer,” Barry said.

Those resistant pigweed species can produce “an absolutely crazy number” of 400,000-500,000 seeds per plant. “With that kind of seed production, it becomes a serious, serious weed especially when it becomes resistant to glyphosate,” he said, adding that giant ragweed is the other big concern.

The battle plan to fight these resistant weeds is multiple modes of action. “That includes not just different modes of action, but overlapping modes of action,” said Barry. “That makes resistance much less possible to happen.”

GROWMARK works with the various university specialists in the Midwest to find out the latest information in the war on weeds and pass that along to the farmers.

Listen to my interview with Barry Nash here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/growmark/gmk-barry-nash.mp3″ text=”Barry Nash Interview”]