Why glyphosate resistance is so important

By Ford L. Baldwin
Practical Weed Consultants, LLC

Delta Farm Press, Oct 24 2006 [shortened]
http://deltafarmpress.com/news/061024-glyphosate-resistance/

I spend so much time on glyphosate resistance because we have built our entire farming system in cotton, corn and soybeans around this one herbicide.

In the past, when resistance to an herbicide developed, we simply switched herbicides and moved on.

Quite often, as resistance developed, we had a new herbicide coming that was better than what we had. Because of this, farmers had no reason to take the herbicide resistance issue very seriously.

In my former career as a university specialist, I would commonly hear, "By the time I get resistance on my farm, the companies and university will have a solution, so I'm not going to worry about it." At that time, it was hard to argue with that philosophy.

Times have changed. The Roundup Ready technology simply blew existing weed control technology out of the water.

There does not appear to be any novel chemistry being developed. In today's market, because anything developed has to compete with generic glyphosate prices, a newer better herbicide simply is not coming along to solve a major resistance problem.

I am rarely asked for advice by younger university weed scientists. However, when I am asked, I advise them to stake their careers on something other than new herbicides coming along.

If you are farming for the short haul, it probably does not matter. However, if you are farming for the long haul, glyphosate resistance needs to become a "big deal." Next week I will attempt to let Palmer pigweed explain that better.

e-mail: ford@weedconsultants.com