The first defense in the war against weeds is knowing the enemy, according to BASF Crop Protection.

A recent BASF survey found that 76 percent of growers have made changes to their weed management programs to address weed resistance and proper weed identification is fundamental to any effective control program.

“The first step in weed control is to know your enemy,” said Kevin Bradley, Ph.D., Associate Professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri. “If you don’t know what you’re going after, you’re probably going to be behind from the very beginning.”

Often, the same weed species will show up in a field year after year, so it is important to know where problem weeds live.

“It’s about characterizing which part of your farm needs certain attention,” said Greg Armel, Technical Market Manager, BASF. “There’s an adage – every year you don’t control weeds, there will be seven more years of fighting that weed. The less you know about what you’re dealing with, the more that weed has a chance to get a foothold in your ground and prevent you from controlling it in an effective manner.”

Newly acquired land, or any major land management changes, requires special attention when scouting and identifying weeds.

Read more from BASF.