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OAC Researchers Identify Glyphosate-Resistant Canada Fleabane in Essex County
May 4, 2011
Researchers at OAC’s Department of Plant Agriculture have identified glyphosate-resistant Canada fleabane in Essex County. Glyphosate is a broad spectrum herbicide used for control of grass and broad leaf weeds and can be used with Round-up Ready crops. Canada fleabane is also known as marestail or horseweed, and glyphosate-resistant biotypes have been identified in nine American states.
Research was begun 12 months ago by Prof. Peter Sikkema in response to a query from an agriculture retail outlet in Essex County seeking identity of a particular weed. This is typical of OAC’s extension service and Sikkema identified the submitted sample as Canada fleabane. After treating the identified plant in the field with glyphosate at the label rate, it was not controlled. Collaborating with Prof. Francois Tardif in Guelph, seeds were collected from soy-bean fields in Essex and subjected to further greenhouse testing in the Department of Plant Agriculture.
“I don’t want people to have the perception that it is across the county – we have confirmed it in eight fields,” says Sikkema, who conducts an applied research program in field crops at OAC’s Ridgetown campus. “It is primarily a problem where growers are using no-till crop production. So far it is predominantly a problem in no-till soy beans.”
"Part of the problem with this weed is that it produces thousands of wind-borne seeds," says Tardif, who conducts research on herbicide resistance biology and physiology on the Guelph Campus. "This means the problem could easily spread from field to field once it is established in an area."
Sikkema says farmers will require additional herbicides to control this biotype in their fields, including applications of Eragon and FirstRate in pre-emergent soy beans and Eragon and Banvel II for corn. Graduate students are continuing research on two different fields this spring and summer trying to determine if there are other alternatives.
“We are looking at generating Ontario-based information to best address the problem. In three to four months we will have better information for Ontario farmers,” he says.
