Resistant weed headaches growing, survey shows

New survey says 43 per cent of farmers now believe they have herbicide-resistant weeds, but the number who report using more than one mode of action is falling

More Canadian farmers are reporting herbicide-resistant weeds, according to a new poll. Nearly two-thirds of the 500 farmers surveyed in a poll conducted for BASF Canada said weeds in their fields are getting tougher to control, and 43 per cent said they suspect they have weeds resistant to herbicides. In a similar poll conducted a

New herbicide option from MANA Canada

Priority’s active ingredient is florasulam, a Group 2 herbicide, designed to be tank mixed with the farmer’s choice of glyphosate

Western Canadian farmers will have another pre-seed, chemfallow and post-harvest weed control option starting this spring by tank mixing MANA Canada’s Priority herbicide with glyphosate. Florasulam, an off-patent Group 2 weed killer, is Priority’s active ingredient, which when tank mixed with glyphosate will have the same active ingredients as PrePass, Andrew Mann, MANA Canada’s general


Paraguay soy farmers ask courts to halt Monsanto royalties

Growers want the courts to match a Brazilian ruling where a state court ordered Monsanto to stop charging

Reuters / A group of Paraguayan farmers asked the courts Feb. 5 to stop U.S. biotech company Monsanto from charging royalties for use of its genetically modified soybeans in the world’s No. 4 exporter. The farmers say royalty payments should be halted because the company charges growers about $40 million per year to use its



Monsanto touts Brazil royalty deal, some farmers resist

The company is accused of continuing to charge royalties after the patent on its RR soybeans expired in 2010

Monsanto Co. and Brazil’s National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) said they had reached an agreement with local farmers to end a dispute over royalty payments on seed technology. But key producing groups in top soybean-growing state Mato Grosso, that are fighting Monsanto in local courts, said they did not accept the agreement. Producers in 10

Practise zero tolerance to avoid resistant weeds

If Canadian farmers want to avoid the fate of their U.S. counterparts struggling with glyphosate-resistant weeds such as kochia, waterhemp, and common and giant ragweed, then they’d better practise zero tolerance, says an American weed scientist. “That means no survival rate and no weed seed production,” researcher Jeff Stachler told attendees at the Manitoba Agronomists


More diversified weed management practices needed

Public- and private-sector weed scientists agree integrated weed management, rather than any magic-bullet chemistry, will be the way forward to maintain viable fields against herbicide-resistant weeds. Scientists from across Canada gathered in Winnipeg last week to discuss new research at the Canadian Weed Science Society’s 66th annual conference. Much of the research on the agenda

New technology with old herbicides

Agroup of seven extension staff from Ohio’s Purdue University have issued a publication on the pros and cons of 2,4-D- and dicamba-tolerant crops. Two companies are set to introduce these products in combination with glyphosate as a means of controlling weeds that have become resistant to glyphosate alone. Opponents say that widespread use of these


Seed companies near deal on off-patent GMO technology

What happens when patents for genetically modified seeds expire? Monsanto has made billions off Roundup Ready soybeans, corn, canola, and other crops since launching a glyphosate-tolerant soybean in 1996. But the upcoming expiration of its patent for the herbicide-resistant trait in 2014 raises an array of concerns, including who bears the costs and responsibilities of

Monsanto’s dicamba-tolerant soybeans approved

Monsanto Company’s dicamba-tolerant soybean product has received full food, feed and environmental release approval from Health Canada (HC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The approval brings Monsanto Canada one step closer to introducing dicamba tolerance stacked with Monsanto’s existing Genuity(R) Roundup Ready 2 Yield(R) trait technology in soybeans. Plans are to commercially brand