When we say “resistance” most of us think glyphosate, but marestail and palmer amaranth have also developed a resistance to PPO in some states, according to FMC technical service representative Nick Hustedde.
“It’s definitely a significant problem. It’s unfortunate any time we loose a herbicide technology,” Hustedde said during an interview at National Farm Machinery Show. But fortunately we can do things to preserve the effectiveness of PPO herbicides.
“With PPO resistance the mechanism is actually a low-level resistance so we can still over come it. Our soil applied treatments are still providing value, so when we think about a soil treatment, you know we’re trying to control what’s there at the time of application as well as what might come up six weeks from the application. So it’s a high dose in the soil and it can overcome that resistance mechanism.”
Diversification and more effective sites of action are key to control. FMC offers products like Authority MTZ and Authority Elite herbicides that offer two sites of action, as well as others that work for growers facing more large seeded broad leaf pressure, like Anthem Maxx herbicide. Other practices like row spacing, higher seeding rates and cover crops play a part in preserving technologies as well.
To learn more listen to Chuck’s full interview with Hustedde and stop by to talk with him and other FMC experts at both Commodity Class and the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show this week. Interview with Nick Hustedde, FMC