Herbicide-resistant pigweeds stop combines, make national TV

Cotton and soybean farmers in eastern Arkansas are interviewed in an ABC News story highlighting the potential harvest disruption caused by weeds that chemicals cannot kill. The reporter says that more than 1 million acres may be affected by the problem, long predicted by farmers and weed scientists who advocate for non-chemical weed management.

One farmer interviewed said he had spent $500,000 tspraying chemicals this year, and lost the battle against pigweed. The resistant, persistent plant pest forms a hard, fibrous stalk that can be as thick as a baseball bat. A veteran extension agent says he has never seen such a weed threat.

While the coverage focuses on the current-year crisis--and highlights the fallacy of depending on herbicides for  long-term sustainability--glyphosate (the active ingredient in many widely used herbicides) has been losing its impact for years, as our background story below illustrates.

Full story: ABC News

There are ways to manage weeds without herbicides, and organic farmers have learned how to cope by taking a systemic approach that uses a number of strategies, applied over a period of years, beginning with building healthy soil and crop rotation.

Feature story: Rodale Institute