Make Weed Resistance Management a Top Priority

At times when breaking even — much less making a profit — at the end of the season is a formidable challenge for many growers, it’s easy to understand how managing weed resistance may not be top of mind. But for grower Mark Forsyth of Charles City, Iowa, resistance is a problem he can’t ignore. “We’ve been dealing with resistant weeds for a good five years,” he says. “It’s become noticeably tougher and threatens to reduce our yields every year.”

Pete Eure, herbicide technical lead at Syngenta, says effective weed resistance management can save growers like Forsyth time, money and frustration in the long run. “Allowing weed resistance to go unchecked can set the stage for significant yield and profit losses sustained over multiple seasons,” he says. “It also can remove valuable herbicide solutions from growers’ toolboxes.”

Based on my experiences, timely applications and using different sites of action are key when managing resistant weeds that can cut into my yields and profits.

Eure offers these tips to help growers manage resistance and retain the tools they have to effectively control weeds:

• Start clean, using tillage or an effective burndown plus a preemergence residual herbicide application.
• Always use a two-pass, preemergence and post-emergence system with herbicides at full labeled rates.
• Use multiple effective sites of action with overlapping residuals.
• Do not allow weeds to go to seed and add to the seed bank.
• Use good agronomic practices — narrow rows, increased plant populations and other practices that promote crop growth and competitive ability

Forsyth agrees with Eure’s recommendations, especially when it comes to using herbicides with different sites of action. “Based on my experiences, timely applications and using different sites of action are key when managing resistant weeds that can cut into my yields and profits,” he says.

For more information on managing weed resistance, go to the Syngenta Resistance Fighter^® webpage.