Manitoba Agriculture has confirmed what weed scientists and farmers long suspected: glyphosate resistant kochia is present in Manitoba.
The province said this morning that a weed survey, conducted last fall, found two cases of glyphosate resistant kochia in the Red River Valley.
The survey team, which included Manitoba Agriculture, Agriculture Canada and the University of Manitoba, collected kochia plants from 283 sites. Plants from two of the sites were glyphosate resistant.
“Finding GR kochia was not unexpected as previous surveys in Alberta and Saskatchewan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have all identified GR kochia,” Manitoba Agriculture said in a release.
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Manitoba Agriculture reps will “work with the affected and neighbouring producers this spring to discuss possible containment procedures.”
With only a couple of confirmed cases of glyphosate resistant kochia, Manitoba growers have an opportunity to control its spread, the province said.
“Farmers should consider reducing the number of glyphosate applications in a single season and incorporate non-glyphosate herbicides in weed management programs when growing glyphosate-tolerant crops. Farmers will also need to incorporate non-herbicidal measures like crop rotation, tillage and manual weeding if necessary to control populations.”
