I’ve noticed a slow and increasing trend lately, the level of communication about weeds has been on the decline. Now I have very little data outside of Southern California to back up my assertion, so I look to you to provide a sense of optimism. Your comments to counter my observations are greatly appreciated.

Several state and federal agencies along with local governments and organizations have been, one by one, missing weed management meetings or local workshops and symposia. Now this is not something entirely new or unpredicted, attending an invasive plant management group is certainly not as fun as being in the field for the day. It is important work: organizing regional projects, deciding which grants to write,...

Abstract: Organic mulches could be a part of a wide strategy of integrated weed management in vegetable production systems. A 2-year field experiment was carried out in Central Italy with the aim of assessing the effect of grass and legume mulches, coming from winter cover crops, combined with herbicide or mechanical hoeing on weed control, on weed community (density and aboveground biomass of each species), and yield of a pepper crop. Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), oat (Avena sativa L.) and their mixture were sown in early autumn and suppressed in May. The cover crop aboveground biomass was cut and arranged in strips which were used as beds for pepper seedlings transplanted in paired rows. A conventional treatment...

Reposted from a recent WSSA press release on herbicide resistant weeds by the Weed Science Society of America.
Brad

Today the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) announced it will co-sponsor an upcoming scientific summit on how to manage herbicide-resistant weeds — a costly and growing problem threatening crop production across the U.S. and around the globe.

The May 10 event is being organized by the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences, and will be held at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Several WSSA members will deliver presentations or participate in...

Roundup Ready (RR) alfalfa was the fifth glyphosate-tolerant crop to be commercialized in the United States following canola, soybeans, cotton and corn (1996, 1997, 1997, and 1998, respectively).  Its release has been more contentious and highly disputed than any of its predecessors.   Its introduction in the fall of 2005 was short lived and an injunction was issued by a circuit court judge in March of 2007 halting new plantings but allowing production on existing fields to continue. Roundup Ready alfalfa was deregulated for the second time in February of 2011 after a 4-year ban. Earlier this month a U.S. federal judge upheld this decision.

 Growers and the alfalfa industry as a whole now have a full...