Weed resistance just might have been the hottest topic of discussion at the Bayer CropScience tent during the 2013 Farm Progress Show. They hosted a panel on Weed Resistance in the Americas, to highlight the global epidemic. The commonality each of these panelist seemed to bring to the table was diversity and how it needs to be implemented across each farming operation.

Bayer’s Senior Product Development Manager, Ariene Cotie, served as the moderator and panelists included:
– Dr. Steven Powles, Director of the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia.
– Dr. Aaron Hagar, Associate Professor of Weed Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
– Pedro J. Christoffoleti, Associate Professor of Weed Science, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
– Harry Strek, Head of Profiling & Market Support Weed Control Research Biology, Bayer CropScience, Germany.

After the panel, Dr. Powles spoke with me on how Australia is managing their resistance problem with methods not yet tried here in the United States

“Our weeds are really a big threat because they have developed moldable herbicide resistance, so we really have a problem. We’re getting on top of it, but it’s not easy. We have learned that we can’t depend of chemicals”

Listen to my interview with Dr. Powles here: Interview with Dr. Steven Powles

I also had the chance to talk with Pedro Christoffoleti about what Brazil is doing locally that differs from what we are doing in the United States and how education is the key.

“I came to the US to see how the problem of herbicide resistance is and how the US is dealing with the problem, since we also have the same problem there but with different weeds. It’s a great opportunity to visit farmers, retailers and universities here and exchange ideas to see if we can deal with this big problem. In my opinion it is the biggest problem in sustainable agriculture today.”

Listen to my interview with Pedro here: Interview with Pedro Christoffoleti

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album