Well it’s no secret that glyphosate resistant weeds are becoming more of a problem for farmers all over the world. But what role do cover crops play in this situation and how does it vary between the U.S. and the UK? Check out a clip from the latest episode of the Cover Crop Strategies Podcast where weed science specialist John Cussans talks a little bit about annual ryegrass and italian ryegrass as they relate to herbicide resistance.
“And now with glyphosate we see issues with Italian ryegrass where we don’t see with black grass which would be our most widespread weed. We don’t see the same problem in our brome species or wild oats, it really does seem like Italian ryegrass has this disproportionate propensity to develop herbicide resistance. As to why that is, all projects end with a requirement for more funding, that’s where we will finish. But I think one of the things that we are seeing as we begin to look a bit more at ryegrass is just how incredibly genetically diverse the background is. So we have all different types, we have all different levels of dormancy and germination patents. We see differences in fertilization requirements in wild populations. So there's this massive genetic diversity and there's almost a soup of lolium genetics in the landscape because we've got perennial living in the landscape. And it’s just a soup of genetics and I think that gives you the raw ingredients to go on and select for herbicide resistance.”
Well if you want to hear more about John’s research and why glyphosate resistance in the UK might be an even bigger deal than it is here in the U.S., be sure to head to cover crop strategies dot com to check out the full episode of the podcast.
