Weed resistance just might have been the hottest topic of discussion at the Bayer CropScience tent during the 2013 Farm Progress Show. They hosted a panel on Weed Resistance in the Americas, to highlight the global epidemic. The commonality each of these panelist seemed to bring to the table was diversity and how it needs to be implemented across each farming operation.

Bayer Senior Product Development Manager Ariene Cotie served as the moderator and panelists included:
– Dr. Steven Powles, Director of the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative
– Dr. Aaron Hagar, Associate Professor of Weed Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
– Pedro J. Christoffoleti, Associate Professor of Weed Science, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
– Harry Strek, Bayer CropScience, Germany.

Dr. Powles says Australia is managing their resistance problem with methods not yet tried here in the United States. “Our weeds are really a big threat because they have developed moldable herbicide resistance, so we really have a problem,” he said. “We’re getting on top of it, but it’s not easy. We have learned that we can’t depend of chemicals” [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-13-bayer-powles.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dr. Steven Powles”]

Christoffoleti appreciated the opportunity to see what farmers in the United States are doing to address the problem of herbicide resistance since they have the same problem in Brazil but with different weeds. “It’s a great opportunity to visit farmers, retailers and universities here and exchange ideas to see if we can deal with this big problem. In my opinion it is the biggest problem in sustainable agriculture today.” [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps-13-bayer-christoffoleti.mp3″ text=”Interview with Pedro Christoffoleti”]

2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album