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Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:20:33 -0800
From: "GMWatch" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: GMW: 'Monster weed' escapes chemical lasso
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EXTRACT: "Their fear is that it's going to be on huge acres of fields this=
 year and I think it most likely will be," [Larry Steckel, a University of=
 Tennessee weed specialist] said. "It's changed everything."
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'Monster weed' escapes chemical lasso
Toby Sells
The Commercial Appeal, February 26 2010=20
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/feb/26/monster-weed-escapes-chem=
ical-lasso/

Weeds have always bedeviled farmers, but as planting season begins, Palmer=
 pigweed -- called a "monster weed" -- is expected to be an agricultural=
 "game changer."

That's because it has become resistant to Monsanto's ubiquitous Roundup he=
rbicide, a glysophate-based weed killer that has been the top-selling herb=
icide for decades.

Monsanto said 2009 sales of Roundup were about $1.8 billion, and sales of=
 other glysophate-based herbicides were $422 million.

Monsanto pairs the weed killer with its seeds that are genetically modifie=
d to be resistant to it. So, if a farmer sprays Roundup on a field, it wil=
l kill everything but those plants modified to resist it. While Monsanto=
 engineered this trait into crop seeds in laboratories, pigweed and a hand=
ful of other weeds have developed it on their own.

Larry Steckel, a University of Tennessee weed specialist in Jackson, Tenn.=
, said farmers are now turning to herbicides used in the 1980s and 1990s=
 to weed their fields. While Roundup costs farmers about $10 per acre per=
 season, these other chemicals can cost $35-$40 per acre per season, shavi=
ng already thin profit margins.

He said the problem is top of mind for Mid-South farmers on both sides of=
 the Mississippi River from the Missouri Bootheel to Tunica County.

"Their fear is that it's going to be on huge acres of fields this year and=
 I think it most likely will be," Steckel said. "It's changed everything."

The existence of glysophate-resistant weeds was a rumor in 2004. Pigweed=
 first emerged on a Georgia farm in 2005 and slowly made its way across th=
e South and now to 18 states. It first showed up on a Tennessee farm in la=
te 2005.

Dyersburg cotton and soybean farmer Jimmy Moody said he has worried about=
 Roundup-resistant weeds for a long time but that it finally "exploded on=
 us last year."

He said he'll spray Roundup again this year and spray a herbicide mixture=
 just for pigweed. But farmers have to spray for pigweed before it comes=
 out of the ground or else the weeds become "steel" and have to be pulled=
 out by hand.

"If we can't control the weeds, you just can't grow cotton with them," Moo=
dy said. "The worst possible scenario is that it puts us out of business."

While one crop-input problem rarely gets a spotlight at the annual Mid-Sou=
th Farm and Gin Show, this year's show will feature a special seminar sole=
ly devoted to glysophate-resistant weeds.

"Sometimes an issue comes along that we think merits a highlight," said Ti=
mothy Price, the show's manager. "Our industry openly and honestly looks=
 at challenges and tries to find solutions."

Price said about 20 companies will bring a total of 40-50 products or serv=
ices to deal with glysophate-resistant weeds.

The 58th annual Mid-South Farm and Gin Show opens this morning and ends at=
 4:30 p.m. Saturday Downtown at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.


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