Grade 12 students looking for free post-secondary education might want to steer dinner table conversation toward weeds, chemicals and crop rotations.
A group of weed researchers, hoping to get farm families to talk about the problem of herbicide resistance, is putting up $16,000 in scholarships for essays on the subject.
Weeds that learn to survive chemical applications can affect the value of farmland, said researchers with the Weed Resistance Education and Action Program.
If farmers ignore the problem today, the next generation of farmers will face the consequences of not being able to grow certain crops on certain fields, according to the newly formed group.
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Farmers have been hearing about weed resistance for 10 years, said Clark Brenzil, weed control specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture.
“But very few are actually taking action to deal with the resistance, or take action to resist its onset,” said Brenzil.
Low crop prices, a short growing season and other conundrums with diseases and insects make it hard for farmers to focus on one production issue, said John O’Donovan, senior research scientist with Alberta Research Council.
“I think some of it is denial,” added Neil Harker, weed specialist with Agriculture Canada at Lacombe, Alta.
“People hate to admit they have a problem such as resistance on their farm.”
Not enough done
Manitoba weed specialist Todd Andrews said farmers tell him they are using different strategies to prevent resistance.
But data from the Manitoba Crop Insurance Corporation tells a different story, he said.
Two-thirds of farmland in the province likely has herbicide-resistant weeds.
In the northwest region of Manitoba, some farmers have no herbicides left to kill wild oats in wheat. With current wheat prices, these farmers are content to grow alternatives, said Andrews.
But when wheat prices rise, they will feel the hurt, he said.
In Saskatchewan, one in nine fields has wild oats resistant to group one herbicides, said Brenzil, rising to one in six fields in the Parkland region of the province.
No major studies have measured the problem in Alberta, said O’Donovan, but he said he believes the trend is the same.
Farmers tend to find a favorite herbicide and stick with it, he explained. In Alberta, Avadex and Avenge have been “herbicides of choice.”
The researchers say farmers have received mixed messages in the past about how to control the problem.
There has been much debate over whether resistance increases or decreases at different rates of herbicides.
O’Donovan said no matter what the rate, he believes farmers run the risk of fostering resistant weeds if they repeatedly apply the same chemicals to the same fields.
So the group, funded by Cyanamid and Novartis, is trying to get farmers to try another strategy.
“What he has to do is something different than he’s done before,” said Harker.
The group is coming out with a quiz this spring to help farmers determine their risks.
The researchers said they hope more chemical companies join the WREAP group in the future.
“It would have been nice for everyone to be at the table,” said Brenzil. “In the real world, you’re probably never going to see that happen.”
Essay contest rules
- Deadline: March 15
- Eligibility: Open to Grade 12 students whose parents farm
in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Peace River
region of British Columbia.
* Topic: How to balance the need to protect the farm’s future
- Topic: How to balance the need to protect the farm’s future
value with the need to generate farm income today.
- Prizes: Winner gets up to $10,000 to apply to university or
college tuition. Three runners-up get $2,000 to apply to
tuition.
- Information: 306-975-3609 or www.4-h-canada.ca,
www.cp.ca.novartis.com and www.farmlinepartners.com.
