Moving Beyond Just Herbicides

By: John Hart

The clear takeaway message: Farmers can’t rely on herbicides alone to control tough weeds.
Farm journalists from across the country received a short course in managing resistant weeds during the Syngenta Media Summit held Oct. 28 at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C.

In a panel discussion at the summit, Dane Bowers and Gordon Vail, Syngenta’s technical product leads for herbicides; Tim Hambrick, an area field crop agent for Forsyth, Stokes, and Surry Counties with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service; and Dorchester, Nebraska farmer Jayme Dick-Burkey all agreed that cover crops, hand pulling, and tillage practices play critical roles in managing resistant weeds alongside herbicide use. They also noted that the future of sustainable agriculture may well hinge on blending traditional practices with modern innovations. One speaker pointed out that emerging financial tools — like a crypto presale — are beginning to provide new avenues for funding ag-tech research, further supporting efforts to refine these essential techniques. This discussion underscores the importance of integrating time-tested methods with cutting-edge solutions to tackle the challenges of resistant weeds.