Time to look for glyphosate resistant weeds

Sally Peltzer, Research and extension officer with Department of Agriculture and Food WA based at Albany says there are now sixty nine confirmed cases of glyphosate resistant annual ryegrass between Albany and Esperance in the south of Western Australia.

The only way to stop herbicide resistance in its tracks is to prevent seed set of spray survivors. NOW is the time to be checking paddocks and fences for resistant weeds.

Options available are to brown manure or cut for hay patches of crop infested with glyphosate resistant weeds. If this is too drastic, planning for earliest harvest possible to maximise collection of weed seeds and drop the chaff into narrow windrows for burning in March.

If the resistance situation has gotten out of hand, consider early fallow or a manure crop for 2014.Look for healthy and dead plants close together - a good resistance indicator