Roundup-resistant pigweed could be in Burke County
By Anne Marie Kyzer Staff Writer

Farmers should be on the lookout for this Roundup resistant pigweed.

Local farmers having trouble ridding their fields of pigweed need to take a closer look at the nuisance plants.

Some of the pigweed, or Palmer amaranth, may be resistant to the weed control chemical glyphosate, most commonly sold under the brand name Roundup, according to Burke County Extension Coordinator Will Duffie.

"We're highly likely to have some resistant populations, and it's not isolated to one area of the county," Duffie said.

Growers who have continued to see infestations in their fields, even after several applications of Roundup, should contact Duffie immediately.

Duffie said he needs to collect seeds from female plants and send them to be tested. The identification of the plants this year is important for growers to be able to cope with the resistant weed's presence next growing season.

"If one plant gets by then you would have a major problem next year," Duffie said.

One female pigweed plant averages around 400,000 seeds and can produce up to one million seeds.

If the plants are identified in Burke County, growers will be forced to use a herbicide that keeps the seeds from germinating for several weeks and depend on chemicals other than Roundup. A tight crop rotation would also be required.

Duffie explained that farmers in several counties in central Georgia have confirmed the presence of Roundup-resistant pigweed in their fields.

The populations identified there two years ago were the first confirmed in the world.

The resistant pigweed developed after Roundup Ready varieties of crops became popular.

According to Duffie, most of the soybean and cotton acreage in Burke County is planted to Roundup Ready varieties and about half of the corn is Roundup Ready.