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Next phase in controlling herbicide-resistant weeds

The president of the Weed Science Society of America says the next phase in combatting herbicide-resistant weeds has to do with how farmers control them.

Kevin Bradley describes resistant weeds as a ‘wicked’ problem.

“It’s a very complex problem with a lot of moving parts and almost unsolvable (where) one thing impacts another.”

He says science has uncovered the biology of resistance, now it’s time to better understand farmer behavior.

“We’ve been teaming up with more social scientists and really trying to get at the heart of how can we effect change at the farmer level.  We cannot continue to spray the same thing over and over in the same place, because we’re going to get resistance.”

The Weed Science Society is taking a deep dive into the future of weed control with a series of symposiums on the subject scheduled for February of next year.