Recent news stories that featured our weed scientist colleagues at the University of Idaho, Albert Adjesiwor and Pam Hutchinson, have described how two weed species – Palmer amaranth and waterhemp – were found in Idaho for the first time a couple of years ago. These weeds have also been found in other Pacific Northwest (PNW) areas in Oregon and Washington over the past couple of years. Finding these weed species growing in PNW fields is of particular concern because they have been found to have resistance to several herbicides in other parts of the U.S.
The presence of new weeds that did not previously grow in the region raises questions such as:
- Are innovative weed management practices and technologies needed to control the spread of these weeds?
- Has the relative importance of weed management among farmers and ranchers changed in light of these recent developments?
Obtaining growers’ perspectives
To help answer these questions, we have designed a study and outreach plan that focus on better characterizing the ways in which weed management among PNW farmers and ranchers has changed in recent years and the different approaches that have been taken in response.
A key component of what is planned is a grower survey, which has four main sections as shown in Table 1. The first section includes information on farm/ranch characteristics, which are essential for being able to describe how weed issues and management strategies differ across farms and ranches with different locations, climates and sizes. The second section focuses on weed prevalence and, specifically, whether the weed situation has changed regarding the number of species, spatial and timing variation within fields and adjustments in the budget allocated for weed management. The third section relates to strategies used to manage weeds and whether and how those have changed over time. The final section pertains to herbicide resistance and perceptions regarding its future effects and overall awareness regarding it.
We hope that gathering these perspectives and organizing the data in such a way that it helps tell a clearer story of how farms and ranches with different locations, climates and sizes are currently managing weeds will help producers in the PNW better contextualize their own weed management strategies and determine what types of adjustments are worth considering. We will be very grateful for farmers and ranchers to please fill out the survey as we work with our supporting industry partners to distribute it.
A PNW initiative to help manage weeds
This survey is a part of a larger, multifaceted project called the “PNW Herbicide Resistance Initiative” (PNWHRI). The PNWHRI is a collaborative effort initiated in 2022 among over 20 scientists and staff at the University of Idaho, Oregon State University, Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service, in association with many supporting partners such as grain commissions in each state.
Aspects of the PNWHRI include:
- Biological characterization of PNW weeds: Activities include establishing an inventory of cropping systems and weed populations, herbicide resistance surveys, mapping herbicide resistance in the PNW and testing new technologies for weed seed management.
- Socioeconomics and policy assessments: Activities include co-production of knowledge for weed management among producers and weed and plant scientists and studies on social, economic and/or policy-related barriers to integrated weed management strategy adoption and/or usage.
- Education and outreach: Activities that help ensure that the scientific discoveries made in other parts of the project are made available and accessible to farmers, ranchers and the public.
We hope that the efforts by us and colleagues participating in the PNWHRI help improve the capacity for PNW farmers and ranchers to better manage weeds in the future. We and our colleagues look forward to sharing the discoveries made in future issues of Ag Proud – Idaho and other media outlets in the years ahead.
