8-11 FB Weed Woes

 Weed woes may lead us to a position where we need hoes. That may be a pretty little rhyme, but out in the fields one thing is certain, it ain’t pretty when it comes to weeds.

 There has been growing concern about weed resistance in Idaho. This after everybody was high-fiving, backslapping, and celebrating Roundup Ready sugar beets, corn, alfalfa and so on. Just think. Plant genetically modified crops, spray with an herbicide to hold down the weeds, and life is a beautiful thing as a producer. But hold on. BASF Herbicide Technical Market Manager Dr. Dan Westberg says waterhemp pressure is a hot topic in much of the Corn Belt - particularly in Illinois, Missouri and parts of Iowa. I know this is Idaho and it isn’t in the Midwest, but what is going on in the rest of the country maybe a foreboding indicator of what is to come here in our state. Here’s Dr. Westberg: “The University of Illinois just came out and they have now identified glyphosate  resistant waterhemp in 11 different counties. Missouri, I believe, is up to 39 different counties for glyphosate  resistant waterhemp so that is growing to be a major problem. It is so bad they are actually having to use hand hoeing or having hoe gangs go out and manually remove weeds out of their fields.