I’ve lost count, but over the last five years I’ve probably sat through 45 presentations on the herbicide resistance crisis in North America.
The first 10 were fascinating, the next 15 provided adequate fodder for an article and the remaining 20 anesthetized about 80 million neurons in my brain. Like any crisis, the shock wears off once you’ve heard the same story 25 times.
Every North American farmer should be familiar with the glyphosate resistance narrative.
In short form: it has devastated cotton production in Arkansas, will soon ravage the Midwest and will eventually destroy grain and oilseed production in the northern Plains.
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To convey the potential threat to farmers who don’t yet have glypho-sate resistant weeds, scientists have often used phrases such as:
- Stop rearranging the deck chairs. Your farm is sailing straight towards an iceberg.
- Get help now. Glyphosate is more addictive than heroin.
- Did we mention the “end of the world is nigh?”
A group of weed scientists met in Washington, D.C., last fall for a herbicide resistance summit. Many acknowledged that their Old Testament communication strategy, with prophecies of doom, gloom and locusts, wasn’t working so well.
Many farmers continued to apply glyphosate at a record pace because it’s cheap and remained highly effective at killing weeds.
Several weed scientists at the Washington meeting said it’s time for a less menacing message around herbicide resistance.
Peter Sikkema, a University of Guelph weed scientist who attended the D.C. event, provided an example of the new communications approach at an ag conference in Winnipeg this winter.
Sikkema said cost estimates show that the financial return of a residual herbicide and glyphosate is comparable to two doses of glyphosate.
Sikkema then added, in a “by the way” tone, that using a residual herbicide reduces the likelihood of glyphosate resistant weeds by 95 percent. This straightforward, economic argument for sustainable weed control will likely be more successful than the old message of “do this or you’re all dead.”
Most humans, including me, don’t worry about horrific things that might happen in five, 10 or 15 years.
If we did, Wendy’s would never have introduced the Ultimate Canadian Combo, featuring a Baconator, poutine and a barrel of cola.
