Follow-up to Lynn Sosnoskie's 3/6/2012 UC Weed Science blog entry (http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6967)


Here's the NPR story "Farmers Face Tough Choice On Ways To Fight New Strains Of Weeds"

(http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/03/07/147656157/farmers-face-tough-choice-on-ways-to-fight-new-strains-of-weeds)

This a link to an article in Western Farm Press about herbicide resistance in almond orchards.  The article is a synopsis that Bob Curtis wrote about a presentation I made as part of a "What's new in Almond Pest Management" along with Drs. Frank Zalom and Jim Adaskaveg at the most recent Almond Conference in Modesto.

The article is available here:
http://westernfarmpress.com/tree-nuts/almond-industry-sets-crosshairs-weed-resistance
and, according to Bob: "Growers attending last year’s Almond Conference heard an update on almond weed management from UC Extension weed specialist Brad Hanson that not only provided...

One of the most significant problems facing the field of agriculture is the development of herbicide-resistant weeds. In the fruit and nut crop industry of California, the development of glyphosate-resistance is particularly concerning. Currently, 22 weed species (worldwide) have documented resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (http://www.weedscience.org/In.asp).  As of April, 2012, 13 weed species (Palmer amaranth, common waterhemp, common ragweed, giant ragweed, hairy fleabane, horseweed, jungle rice, goosegrass, kochia, Italian ryegrass, rigid ryegrass, annual bluegrass, and Johnsongrass) have glyphosate-resistant biotypes occurring in the US. Four of these species (hairy...

Western agricultural concerns about weed cost increases center on the growing problem of herbicide resistance.

At the recent California Weed Science Society annual meeting in Santa Barbara, Calif., in the traditional* realm of weed control, Brad Hanson, UCCE weed science specialist, addressed the issue of off-site movement of herbicides, a growing concern because of heightened regulations to prevent ground and surface water contamination.

 “Any herbicide that misses the target or moves from a plant treatment zone is off-target,” said Hanson.

Herbicides tend to be more persistent once leached below root zone, noted Hanson. To avoid off target movement, Hanson encouraged proper applicator training and equipment...