VIDEO: Taking the fight to kochia in North Dakota

VIDEO: Taking the fight to kochia in North Dakota

There are a number of problem weeds that growers often contend with each season, but kochia is one weed problem in particular that’s of growing concern – and not only here on the Prairies, but also south of the border. Jason Hanson, a crop consultant in North Dakota, travelled to St. Jean Farm Days earlier

Kochia in a canola field.  Photo: File

Crop-killing weeds advance across US farmland as chemicals lose effectiveness

Losing battle with weeds adds pressures to farmers already stressed by inflation, extreme weather

Crop-killing weeds such as kochia are advancing across the U.S. northern plains and Midwest, in the latest sign that weeds are developing resistance to chemicals faster than companies including Bayer BAYGn.DE and Corteva CTVA.N can develop new ones to fight them.


File photo of palmer amaranth — the taller yellowish plants — infesting a U.S. cotton field. (Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Palmer amaranth pops back up in Ontario

Weed infamous in U.S. for multiple herbicide resistances

A single plant that showed up this summer on the edge of a southwestern Ontario cornfield is cause for concern among Canadian farmers, weed specialists warn. Writing Monday in the ag ministry’s Field Crop News, Ontario provincial weed management specialist Mike Cowbrough said the plant in question, found in Wellington County, is confirmed as palmer

Neale Heinrich stands in front of the Redekop Seed Control Unit at its booth at Ag in Motion on July 18, 2023. (Braedyn Wozniak photo)

At Ag in Motion: Herbicide resistance fight needs integrated seed management

'Those seedlings we don’t manage to kill (are) probably the most herbicide-resistant'

Harvest weed-seed control takes aim at reducing herbicide-resistant weeds that western Canadian farmers find more and more every year. At the Ag in Motion outdoor farm show this week, field residue management manufacturer Redekop won the Innovations Award for Environmental Sustainability for its harvest Seed Control Unit, which destroys more than 95 per cent of


Originally a tow-behind unit that attached to the back of the combine, the newer iteration of the Harrington Seed Destructor is a mill that can be integrated with the combine. (Photo: deBruin Engineering Pty Ltd.)

At Ag in Motion: Harvest weed control still in the mix

'You’re not going to spray your way out of this'

It’s a relatively new solution to the age-old problem of trying to get rid of weeds without broadcasting the seed or using increasingly less effective herbicides — mechanical separation and pulverization of weed seed. Harvest weed seed control might not be a golden bullet to tackle glyphosate-, fluroxypyr- and dicamba-resistant weeds, but according to Agriculture

Quick adapting and designed to spread, kochia seems biologically primed to pick off the punches farmers throw at it.

On the ropes against kochia

Growers face a formidable foe. Fast mutations and efficient seed spread are a tough one-two combination

Kill it with fire. That was the gist in 2018, after a photo of post-spray kochia in Saskatchewan made the rounds on social media. The image showed a swath of dead, brown plants. That made the single, green plant right in the centre stand out even more. There was a collective recoil from farmers in


Field patches where kochia is dominant are candidates for mowing or, in the case of herbicide resistant plants, hand-weeding before it sets seed.

Strike early when fighting kochia in canola

Kochia has few means of control, so know the options

Glacier FarmMedia – Kochia is one of the fastest-spreading and most resistant weeds common in canola. The key is to control it before it sets seed, experts say, and that means striking when it’s small. Herbicide resistant kochia has been a management headache for growers across the Prairies. Pre-seed burnoff is the first tool in

Growers need to understand their seed technologies and the weed spectrum they’re dealing with.

Keeping your herbicides on target

Herbicide resistance, seed technologies add complexity to spray decisions

Glacier FarmMedia – Off-target movement of herbicides carries a risk to your crops, the neighbour’s crop and insurance premiums. With the arrival of Group 4 and Group 9 herbicide technologies, growers may think weed management is simpler. But resistant weed biotypes confound that notion and challenge growers and their advisors with tank-mix solutions and application


“You need to make every drop of the herbicides count while they’re still working.” – Kim Brown-Livingston.

Herbicide resistance can’t be ignored

A weed control strategy will encompass the entire production system

Herbicide resistant weeds have been present in Manitoba since the 1980s but they are now becoming a critical issue that cannot be ignored. Kim Brown-Livingston, Manitoba Agriculture’s weed specialist, called it the biggest problem facing producers. More resistance is cropping up and no new modes of action have been available on the Prairies in the

One researcher says it’s time to move beyond using only the sprayer to control weeds.

The case for integrated weed management

Research scientist Charles Geddes says having the right agronomic strategy is key to combating herbicide resistance

New research shows cultural controls can combat the growing problem of herbicide-resistant weeds. “Herbicide resistance is an increasing and growing issue across the Prairies and it is likely to have a greater impact in the future moving forward as well,” said Charles Geddes, research scientist in weed ecology and cropping systems with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Geddes spoke Feb. 16 at