Superweeds: ready for Roundup
In Arkansas, a new GMO/herbicide solution to a problem created by an old one
Posted by Tom Philpott

I've written a couple of times about the rise "superweeds" in the Southeast and mid-South. In Arkansas, horseweed and Palmer amaranth now choke fields planted with Monsanto's Roundup Ready cotton and soy -- engineered to withstand heavy doses of Roundup, Monsanto's broad-spectrum herbicide. Fifteen years ago, horseweed and amaranth weren't problem weeds.

Back in March, Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service officials were pushing farmers to supplement their Roundup applications with doses of Reflex, a broad-spectrum herbicide made by Monsanto's rival, Syngenta.

Now the agribiz-friendly extension service is hotly promoting the wares of another Monsanto rival, Bayer Crop Sciences, Delta Farm Press reports. Bayer's Liberty Link soybeans, designed to withstand doses of Bayer's broad-spectrum herbicide Ignite, will be available next year.

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