Respect the Rotation

Weed Resistance is Coming...The Time to Change is Now

Wednesday, July 28, 2010, West Point, IA

Respect the Rotation...all farmers and Ag Chem dealers need to get on the bandwagon and start promoting this concept. What am I talking about? I am talking about changing up your weed control herbicides to prevent weed resistance. Skip, Turk, and I just finished an extensive training and tour of the Mid-South area in Southeast Missouri and Eastern Arkansas and saw the problem of weed resistance first hand. We had the opportunity to talk to individual farmers and they all said this problem has cost them up to $250 per acre when you figure a 20 bushel per acre soybean crop loss and additional costs for chemical control that did not work because they did Respect the Rotation. Farmers in this area have resorted to chopping and hoeing weeds out by hand even after applying Glyphosate (Roundup) at 10 times the normal rate with no affect on pigweed. Fields are full of workers removing weeds by hand doing what we used to do 15 years ago. Every farmer we talked to said they would welcome any farmer to come see them and warn them about this problem. The problem is unbelievable unless you see it.

In the northern areas, Glyphosate (Roundup) works just fine in most cases, but the reality is resistance is slowly coming in. It is predicted our problems will start showing up in the next 2-3 years. We have the opportunity today to stop resistance and save the use of Glyphosate on our farms, but only if we act now. A top weed scientist from Australia, which is considered the number one area in the world for weed resistance  as well as top weed scientists from University of Arkansas and Missouri spoke about this problem. The key message delivered by all was “Diversity” and Rotation.”  It was said, “If it works, then change it” in reference to your chemical control methods. They recommend you use at least 3 different modes of actions to control weeds. Do not just rely on Roundup or Ignite. This means serious change for farmers.

The press was there to report on the problem and you can expect to see a lot of news on this subject. Merschman Seeds will lead the charge with this information so we can save the use of Glyphosate on our farms. LibertyLink® soybeans are an excellent way to add “Diversity” and “Rotation” to your farms, but you need to add two additional modes of action to the mix, not just rely on Roundup or Ignite. It was also said that Roundup is the best herbicide ever invented and a one in 100 year discovery. We will never see a better herbicide in our lifetime. Ignite is not Roundup and needs to be used totally differently.

The call to action is to get your farmers together now and start educating them for next year. Why not schedule a Tech Port Tour with your group so we can show you our LibertyLink® products and have serious discussions. Do it today because it is that serious.

 

Photo of Pigweed problem

About Merschman Seeds

Merschman Seeds, Inc. is an Iowa based corporation located at 103 Avenue D, West Point, Iowa 52656 and has been in business since 1954 under the direction of the Merschman family. Merschman Seeds, Inc. currently markets, sells, and distributes corn, soybean, wheat, alfalfa, and forage seed to a network of dealers in 7 Midwestern states. You can learn more about Merschman Seeds, Inc. at www.merschmanseeds.com.