February 28, 2008

Herbicide resistance management

workshops, March 3 and 4

WSU Extension invites farmers to a workshop on preventing and managing herbicide resistance. The feature speaker will be Mary Corp from OSU Extension, who returned from Australia several months ago with important information on herbicide resistance.

“Western Australia has a similar climate to ours in the Pacific Northwest,” said Diana Roberts, WSU Extension agronomist. “Farmers there who use direct seeding have learned some tough lessons about herbicide resistance. We have the opportunity to learn from their experience and I hope we can avoid a similar situation. I encourage any farmer who uses herbicides routinely to attend this workshop.”

Two representatives from the ag industry, Monte Anderson from Bayer Crop Science, and Gil Cook, formerly with Dupont, will also speak at the workshop. They will discuss how chemical companies are viewing herbicide resistance and are working with growers to prevent the problem.

The workshop will be held at two locations: the Memorial Hall in Davenport on Monday, March 3, and the Harvester Restaurant in Spangle on Tuesday, March 4. Both workshops will be from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. A hosted breakfast will be available, but please RSVP to Diana Roberts at WSU/Spokane County Extension (phone 509-477-2167 or e-mail robertsd@wsu.edu) by Feb. 29 to get on the list. Be sure to specify which location you will attend.

The workshops are free and open to anyone interested. If you need special accommodations for a disability please contact beforehand or they cannot guarantee availability.

These workshops are sponsored by WSU Extension, Lincoln-Adams Crop Improvement Association, Spokane County Crop Improvement Association, Lincoln County Association of Wheat Growers and the Spokane County Association of Wheat Growers.