• By Larry Steckel • Has Palmer amaranth evolved dicamba resistance in Tennessee? Results from some of the greenhouse experiments this winter and spring as well as in field research this growing season would suggest that our state now has dicamba-resistant (DR) Palmer amaranth. These DR populations are established in Crockett, Gibson, Madison, Shelby and Warren counties and likely several ... Read More »
weed resistance
Clemson geneticists unravel key to pigweed’s glyphosate resistance
Just hearing “pigweed” can cause fear in cotton and soybean farmers, but a Clemson University geneticist and others believe they have discovered the armor this dreaded weed uses to protect itself against the herbicide glyphosate. The researchers have determined a specific genetic feature, the extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) replicon, gives Palmer pigweed, or Palmer amaranth, its resistance to glyphosate and ... Read More »
Texas A&M AgriLife experts call for vigilance against kochia
Kochia, a kind of tumbleweed, has long been associated with the Texas High Plains, but its abundance is starting to alarm Texas A&M AgriLife officials as regional producers are experiencing challenges controlling the weed as herbicide resistance is mounting. Dr. Muthu Bagavathiannan, Texas A&M AgriLife Research weed scientist in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, College Station, ... Read More »
Prepare For The Robot Invasion
Within a few years, California farmers will have to pay $15 an hour minimum wage and time-and-a-half overtime for anything over eight hours under new regulations. That is, if they can even find reliable workers. A number of producers have already turned to robotics to replace hand-hoeing crews in specialty crops, which have a higher per-acre value and a lack ... Read More »
UT Plans Weed Tour, June 19, In Jackson, Tennessee
The University of Tennessee has scheduled a weed tour, June 19, from 9-11:30 a.m., at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Jackson. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. A light breakfast will be served. Larry Steckel, UT Extension weed specialist, will lead the tour, along with Clay Perkins, doctoral candidate with the UT Department of Plant Sciences and Travis ... Read More »
Go Back To The Future To Manage Glyphosate-Resistant Grasses
• By Larry Steckel • Many questions continue to be asked on how best to manage grass in cotton. The sketchy performance of glyphosate on goosegrass, junglerice and Johnsongrass in 2018 is the main driver of these questions. One change in weed management some have gone to in cotton due to the poor glyphosate performance is to use Prowl preemergence. ... Read More »
Early Season Management
Changing weather patterns have again shaken up the 2018 planting season in the San Joaquin Valley. The good news is we finally got some rain and snowpack in the late winter and very early spring, along with promise of at least a little more irrigation water. The uncertain news includes delays in getting some fields planted due to cool, wet ... Read More »