GROW releases new herbicide resistance resource for the industry

As herbicide resistance spreads, so must education on what it is and how to manage it.

That's the goal of a new website resource from GROW (Getting Rid of Weeds), a public network of weed scientists who are working to help farmers stem this epidemic by diversifying their weed management strategies with non-chemical weed control tactics, a strategy known as integrated weed management (IWM).

GROW recently released a two-part, interactive webpage series that helps define the problem of herbicide resistance and then offers best management practices to fight it.

The first webpage, the Basics of Herbicide Resistance, answers 10 foundational questions about herbicide resistance, ranging from what it is and how it develops to how to identify it and what future threats might be evolving, such as metabolic resistance.

The second webpage, How to Manage Herbicide Resistance with IWM, tackles the latest industry and farming knowledge on how to fight herbicide resistance at the field and farm level. That includes a deep dive into 10 additional questions, including how herbicide-resistant weeds spread, how management recommendations vary by herbicide-resistance type, and what the difference is between herbicide rotation and tank mixing.

The new page also helps farmers use IWM resources such as GROW's Weed Management Planner to build more diverse weed management programs, and showcases innovative farmers who have already started integrating new weed management strategies into their farms, such as cover crops, harvest weed seed control, precision spray technology and weed electrocution.

These new educational modules were written by Penn State University emeritus weed scientist and GROW outreach member, Dr. Bill Curran, in conjunction with GROW outreach specialist Claudio Rubione. Listen to Curran explain how these pages are a small, but crucial step in empowering farmers and the ag industry to fight herbicide resistance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeY6gpFhYPE&t=1s.