A Dozen Different Soy & Corn Weeds Have Now Evolved To "Roundup-Ready" Status
ROCKFORD - Farmers may soon have more trouble controlling weeds in northern Illinois. A dozen weed species have evolved to resist glyphosate, the active ingredient in the country's most widely used farm and garden herbicides. The herbicide, when paired with Roundup Ready corn and soybeans hybrids that are also resistant to glyphosate, gave farmers a potent tool to kill weeds and not their crops for two decades.
But now the weeds are imitating the crops. The herbicide won't kill them. And now they're on the move, extending their range from south to north. Two of the most worrisome species on the move in Illinois are cousins from the pigweed family - Palmer amaranth, a species indigenous to the desert Southwest, and common waterhemp.
"It certainly has been a hot topic this winter," said Russ Higgins, a University of Illinois Extension crop scientist at the Northern Illinois Agronomy Research Center in Shabbona. "The big news in 2014 is going to be Palmer and trying to control it."
Pigweeds are prolific species. A single plant can produce up to 1 million seeds. They can grow up to 2 inches a day and reach 7 feet. Infested fields can bring costly trouble for farmers, who must use other herbicides or physically remove the plants.
EDIT
http://www.rrstar.com/article/20140215/NEWS/140219400
= new reply since forum marked as read
Edible and ornamental:
