Simplicity has a cost. We as humans like to move forward in the simplest manner. Farming, we like to look at simplicity. I want everyone to understand today that rotating Roundup Ready soybean with Roundup Ready corn and following that with Roundup Ready cotton, which is what we did, is absolutely no rotation at all.

Glyphosate resistance has caused an increase of about $40 to $50 per acre in our weed control systems. Those herbicide costs are directly driven as a result of the resistance issues that we’re dealing with: Reduced harvest efficiency. Complete crop loss. Loss of the family farm. It’s compromised conservation tillage for us.

Glyphosate has become a grass herbicide or an adjuvant in some fields. We have glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed, glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth, glyphosate-resistant Johnsongrass, glyphosate-resistant goosegrass.

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Here’s how we got into the situation that we’re in. In the U.S., corn acreage is 89 million acres, and 89 per cent of this is Roundup Ready. We have 85 million acres of soybean and 94 per cent is herbicide-resistant; and of that, 89 per cent of these acres would be Roundup Ready.

We have soybean fields with glyphosate-resistant kochia. Our kochia is also ALS resistant. I’m told dicamba-resistant kochia is spreading like crazy across the northern U.S. I understand there are a few populations of dicamba-resistant kochia in Canada today, but you’re going to see increased populations of dicamba-resistant kochia move across Canada rather quickly.

Glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth is a national issue in the U.S. I’m also convinced that it will soon be a Canadian issue. In 2005, glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth was found in the southeastern U.S. This is a weed that thrives in hot, dry conditions. Today we have 30 states in the U.S. that have glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth, and I am convinced southern Ontario will soon have glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth.

Glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth is spreading because almost all of our acreage was planted to Roundup Ready technology and sprayed with one herbicide, glyphosate. We’ve got to bring more diversity into these production systems.

The resistance treadmill. There’s nothing novel about this. Back in the mid to late ’80s we adopted ALS herbicides throughout the U.S. but weeds developed resistance. In the mid ’90s glyphosate came along. Glyphosate became the solution to ALS resistance.

Once we had glyphosate resistance we took the PPO chemistry and applied it pre-emergence. We also applied it post-emergence and that allowed us to have continued planting of Roundup Ready crops. In 2015, we found PPO-resistant Palmer amaranth. We now have found it in five states in the southern U.S. It appears to be spreading rather quickly. Glyphosate resistance is the reason we have PPO resistance today. Stacked resistance or multiple resistance – it’s a game-changer.

We have found that ALS resistance (Group 2), DNA resistance (Group 3), glyphosate resistance (Group 9) and PPO resistance (Group 14) stacked in Palmer amaranth. I challenge anyone to come up with an effective herbicide program that I could place in that field and successfully grow a Roundup Ready or conventional soybean crop – because it’s not possible.

How do we move forward? I have 12 BMPs or best measurement practices but will only talk about six ways of moving forward today.