I must admit that when I was sent the preliminary information for this topic, I right away started humming the theme song to Mission Impossible while I was reading it. Operation Weed Eradication. It does have a secret agent vibe to it. The good news is you don?t have to be a secret agent to do this. In fact, you don?t have to be good-looking, athletic, or even sneaky at all. So, that means that even I could do it. Over the next couple of days, we are going to learn about this new mission from BASF.
Darren Unland is a Technical Marketing Manager for BASF. He talks to us about the premise behind the Operation Weed Eradication initiative. He says that many times we manage weeds with an attitude of, ?Eh, good enough.? However, Unland remarks that any weed that is still left standing is the basis for the next resistant weed.
Because of this, Unland says we have lost many modes of action to the gradual build-up of chemical resistance in weeds. Eradication means a shift in thinking to prevent this problem from getting out of hand.
As we look at the program?s goal of weed eradication, we need to look at three building blocks:
- Chemical control: Chemistry is still important
- Cultural and mechanical control: Cover crops, residue management, cultivation.
- Diligence: Take those proactive steps. This is by far the most important piece.
As the week moves on, we will break down these pieces more in-depth. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to put these practices into motion on your operation starting in 2020. If you don’t, your weed control program could self-destruct.
