- Author: Brad Hanson
A quick post today to share a few links and reposts that I found interesting recently.
The first is a link to a video on the television program, CBS Sunday Morning. In this program from a week ago, weeds were the focus. Click here for a link to the video. The main focus (and most interesting to me as a herbicide resistance researcher) was the main segment where Dr. Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia talked very frankly about the issues that...
- Author: Brad Hanson
I recently ran across a report published by Crop Life International (a federation of plant science industry companies) on the cost of getting a "biotech" crop variety to market. I've attached the "fact sheet" to the bottom of this post and you can access the whole 24 page report at this link: http://www.croplife.org/PhillipsMcDougallStudy
Technological advances in our understanding and ability to manipulate crop plant genetics (through either GM or non-GM tactics) have had a profound impact on agricultural productivity and adaptibility to new and changing environments. While the study didn't distinguish among traits specifically related to...
- Author: Brad Hanson
Last Thursday (July 19th) was the 56th annual UC Weed Day at the Davis campus.
We had a really good turnout again this year with just under 150 participants including weed science researchers, students, farmers, land managers, pest consultants, and government agency people in attendance. Cooperative Extension Specialist Tom Lanini organized the morning field tour and afternoon presentation session and ordered up really great weather for the day.
We started out on campus for registration and signing up for various continuing educaton credits before heading out on two buses and a parade of trucks and vans to the...
- Author: Brad Hanson
Today I thought I'd share a recent research report on the the phenomenon of "enhanced" degradation of the herbicide simazine in citrus orchard soils. Click here for a link to the publication in the open-source journal, Air, Soil, and Water Research (Abit et al. 2012. Air Soil and Water Research 5:69-78). The lead author was a UC Davis post doctoral researcher and her coauthors include UC Davis, USDA-ARS, Fresno State, and UC Cooperative Extension folks.
This work was started several years ago in response to some questions from San Joaquin Valley orchard and vineyardists poor weed control with simazine. They suspected herbicide...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
I recently blogged about an National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast regarding the development and spread of glyphosate-resistant weeds. Well, weeds are back in the news; below is the link for a recently published piece in the The Scientist (Revenge of the Weeds. May 20, 2012).
http://the-scientist.com/2012/05/20/revenge-of-the-weeds/#disqus_thread
Despite our best efforts to both understand and manage them, herbicide-resistant weeds are gaining ground both in the fields and in the minds of the general public. If it isn't so already, more and more of our extension and outreach will be focused on this topic. I think that it is...