Kochia Management - Part One

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

The challenge of weed pressure is as old as agriculture, but even with modern technology it remains a big problem. Part of the issue is the development of resistance to herbicides. Weed scientist Dr. Charles Geddes says it’s forcing some no-till farmers to consider going back to tillage.

Geddes… “ The real challenge is when you see stacking of these herbicide resistance traits together, right? So in kochia, there's resistance to up to five herbicide modes of action, four of those known to occur in the prairies, and so that really limits those herbicide options, right? There are still a few options, um, but a lot of the tools that we had used, say, to manage kochia for pre-plant burn down application, those options are becoming quite limited, right? And so in our predominant no-till systems that we have in the region, some farmers are considering reintroducing tillage to manage this particular species. And I mean, from a weed management perspective, that can be good because tillage works quite well against kochia. But also, I mean, from a soil health perspective as well, those factors need to be balanced with the benefit that you're getting for weed management.”

For more information on kochia management, tune in tomorrow or listen to the full interview on the Growing Pulse Crops podcast.