BATON ROUGE (AP) — A Louisiana official has urged farmers to take precautions against the spread of a type of weed that has been become resistant to certain herbicides commonly used to control the weed.
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain tells the Alexandria Daily Town Talk that the Palmer Amaranth type of pigweed started plaguing Louisiana farms in 2010 and, now that it is has developed a resistance to some herbicides, including the active ingredient in Roundup, it is becoming a problem for corn, cotton and soybean farmers.
"One of the best methods of control is to prevent the introduction of the seeds on a farm so the plant does not get a foothold. This can be done by cleaning equipment before moving it between fields and ensuring custom harvesters are thoroughly cleaning their equipment before entering a new farm," said Strain. "In addition, the weed control research done by the LSU and Southern ag centers is essential to protecting our state's crops and the agricultural industry."
Pollen transfer from herbicide-resistant pigweeds to other pigweeds can occur over very long distances. Pigweed found in Mississippi and Tennessee has recently proven to be resistant to a different group of herbicides, further limiting control options for this weed.
In addition to cleaning equipment, it is best to alternate use of herbicides that still show effective control. But preventing the introduction and spread of resistant pigweed to the farm through diligent cleaning of equipment is still the best way to avoid introduction of the invasive plant.
