Category: Weeders of the West
Managing Herbicide Resistance with Electric Weed Control
Herbicide Resistance has also been a problem in tree nut crops for quite some time. In hazelnuts in Oregon, the most problematic herbicide-resistant weed is…
Two Are Better Than One
In the Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck wrote, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they…
Dead Weeds Don’t Develop Resistance
Last fall, I gave a presentation on herbicide resistance management at an Idaho Barley Commission meeting. During the discussion, the issue of herbicide rate came…
Why is Weedy Ryegrass so Troublesome?
Species in the Lolium genus, particularly annual and perennial ryegrass, are important seed crops in Oregon that are marketed in other parts of the country…
A Potential Tool to Control Herbicide Resistant Weeds During Harvest?
Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) is an innovative, non-chemical tool that has proved successful in Australia to control herbicide-resistant weeds. HWSC takes advantage of weed…
Community Management of Herbicide Resistant Weeds – An Update
Herbicide resistance can be difficult—or impossible!—to manage alone, not the least because weeds are pesky in their ability to spread from farm to farm. Based…
A Picture Worth a Thousand Words
June 22, 2020 was a beautiful day to take a walk across the WSU Wilke Research and Extension Farm near Davenport, Washington, and scout for…
Herbicide Resistance: Looking Back and Forward
As I watch the snow falling outside my basement window – COVID-19 has driven me from my university office to my basement – I find…
Managing Perennial Weeds in Vegetable Crops: A Case of Yellow Nutsedge in Onion
Farming as a business presents many challenges and one of them is managing weeds. It is even more so when you are a vegetable or…
Field Burning for Italian Ryegrass Control?
As the 2020 field season winds down a lot of producers in the higher rainfall areas of the PNW are assessing what went right, wrong,…
Multi-State Weed Science Research in Mint Grown for Oil
A unique and talented multi-state research group funded by the Mint Industry Research Council has emerged over the last several years to explore novel chemical…
Sponge Wiper for Clopyralid in Hops
Stinger herbicide is labeled for hops grown in Idaho, Oregon, or Washington. Stinger can be broadcast applied or used as a spot-treatment by hand-held sprayer.…
Here They Come Again
Wild oats were not a problem I experienced in my 22 years in western Nebraska. When I accepted my current position at WSU in 2012,…
Will Stacked Herbicide Tolerance Traits Get Us Stuck in an Endless Cycle?
I would like to start by thanking you for starting this blog and for the invitation. I am really excited to be in the PNW…
Selection Pressure and the (Un)Predictability of Herbicide Resistance
Raptor herbicide (imazamox, Group 2) was labeled by BASF for use on snap beans in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon in 2002. Imazamox is…
Using Sociology—Yes, Sociology!—to Manage Herbicide Resistance
Sociology usually isn’t the first discipline that comes to mind when farmers, weed scientists, retailers, and others think about managing herbicide-resistant weeds. Indeed, it might…
Crop Residue Retention as an Integrated Weed Management Strategy in Cool-Season Grass Seed Crops
Diversity is a key concept in most contexts in people’s lives: diversity of ideas, in people’s backgrounds, and cultures. Diversity in weed control strategies is…
Have You Thought About Cooperative Weed Management?
As a follow-up to the last blog, where my colleague Aaron Esser compared weed control with the game of “Hide and Seek”, I would like…
Weed Control is a Lot Like the Game “Hide and Seek”
As a kid, my sibling and I would often play a game of Hide and Seek (no we didn’t have video games and cell phones…
Does Your Field Need a Vacation?
While there are many uncertainties in farming in the dryland PNW, there is one thing we can always count on: weeds. Weeds are the bane…