Herbicide Effectiveness Focus Of 2016 Weed Control Results

 

 

Results of Iowa State University’s 2016 weed science research are now available through the ISU Extension Store. The report includes data on herbicides and how they work on various weeds and soil types.

 

The data was collected at the Agricultural Engineering/Agronomy Research Farm in Ames, Iowa and the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm in Nashua, Iowa.

 

“The products being developed by the ag chemical industry need to be vetted at a number of different levels,” said Mike Owen, university professor and extension specialist in agronomy and weed science with Iowa State. “Those products need to be checked to make sure the research is science-based and doesn’t consider the marketplace when being developed. Iowa State can provide objective information when evaluating these products. This isn’t to say the science of the companies is in question, but our research is done to unbiasedly verify their scientific claims.”

 

The study, titled “Weed Science Program 2016 Weed Control Results” (CROP 3111) was authored by Iowa State Department of Agronomy and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach scientists Owen, Bob Hartzler, Damian Franzenburg, James Lee and Iththiphonh Macvilay.

 

Testing a variety of herbicides in Iowa, instead of in a lab or different part of the country, provides a better look into how the herbicides will function in the field.

 

“Many times these protocols have been developed in Germany or North Carolina, for example, so we try to provide a more Iowa-centric look at how the herbicides work,” Owen said. “We implement the study in our conditions, with our weeds and our soil. Certain herbicides don’t fit as well in Iowa as they do in other parts of the country.”

 

That information shapes the type of recommendations ISU Extension and Outreach staff provide to farmers.

 

“We try to look at the results from the Iowa farmer’s perspective,” Owen said. “We take the approach that the final data feeds into our extension programming to inform the farming community of what these products actually do and what they don’t do.”

 

An archive of results of the trials conducted by Iowa State dating back to 2002 is also now available through the ISU Extension Store.

 

“It’s very important to have a historic record,” Owen said. “It’s important to have an account of those older experiments because with evolved resistances to herbicides in weeds and the lack of new mechanisms being discovered and registered for use, we are having to go back and utilize older products. A product that was used in 2000 might fit into a management plan now, so this digital record is very important to the industry.”

 

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.