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Upper Midwest Growers See Changing Weed Spectrum
Farmers in the Upper Midwest are seeing a changing spectrum of weeds.
Steve Snyder with Corteva Agriscience says growers in the Dakotas and western Minnesota are starting to do more than velvetleaf, lamb's quarters and waterhemp.
“Now they're starting to get guts. Go a little further west to the Missouri River and central and east-central Dakota, they've always struggled with guts, but now they're starting to get hemp. So if they've used some of the same programs that they have in the past, it's a challenge when you have those two weeds, especially because they appear at such different times.”
He says Brownfield kochia emerges early in the growing season, while hemp usually emerges around mid-June.
“One of the things we've been doing really a lot the last couple of fall, and right now is a perfect time of year, is we're doing a lot of fall (herbicide) applications, and it's going to be pretty much full force in the spring to get that early cochineal.” .
Snyder says that while this herbicide program won't cover the entire season, it takes care of cochia so growers can focus on regular weeds like hemp.
