BALTIMORE, Maryland — Normally, at farm conferences, a panel of experts discuss the most significant issue in a particular sector of agriculture for an hour. Or, at most, 90 minutes.
At the Weed Science Society of America annual meeting in Baltimore yesterday, 15 scientists on three separate panels talked about herbicide resistance for more than four hours.
At the meeting in Baltimore, while Ravens’ players and fans celebrated the team’s Super Bowl victory, a group of weed experts, agricultural economics professors and a sociologist discussed ways to manage herbicide resistant weeds, particularly weeds that glyphosate will no longer kill.
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The scientists spent most of the four hours on growers — specifically, how to get producers to adopt best management practices (BMPs) to prevent herbicide resistance.
“It’s not just science, its human behaviour that dictates outcomes,” said Jodie Holt, a weed scientist from the University of California Riverside.
Over the last few years, the WSSA has developed a list of BMPs to help growers curtail the emergence of herbicide resistance on their farms.
In preparation for her role in the panel discussions, Amy Asmus, an owner of Asmus Farm Supply in Iowa, surveyed certified crop advisers in the United States, Canada and Mexico to assess attitudes and perceptions regarding herbicide resistance and BMPs.
When asked when they would adopt alternative practices to fight herbicide resistance, 40 percent of respondents said they would take appropriate action when it appeared in their fields.
“That number was a little higher than I (expected),” she said.
The reluctance to prevent a problem isn’t totally surprising because producers are pressed for time and must cope with other on-farm troubles, Asmus added.
“They have good intentions but sometime that falls to time or weather constraints.”
Ray Jussaume, a Michigan State sociologist, said weed scientists are too focused on the science of herbicide resistance. Instead, they need to consider the science of personal choice, he noted.
“You are facing a human problem.”
