Palmer Amaranth Discovered In RM Of Dufferin

An unwanted pigweed species known as Palmer amaranth has been found in the RM of Dufferin.

Kim Brown-Livingston is the province's weed specialist.

"A couple weeks ago, an agronomist had called and suspected that she'd found some Palmer amaranth in a bean field," she said. "Samples were sent in to the Pest Surveillance Initiative lab in Winnipeg, which is run by the Manitoba Canola Growers and we got a positive DNA confirmation that it definitely was Palmer amaranth."

Brown-Livingston believes this is the first case of Palmer amaranth found in Manitoba, although there were some suspected plants found in the past.

The concern with Palmer amaranth, and waterhemp (which has also been discovered in the RM of Dufferin), is that they are very invasive and can cause a lot of yield damage. They can also develop herbicide resistance very quickly.

Brown-Livingston says she's not sure how Palmer amaranth arrived in Manitoba, adding they may never know. She says, to her knowledge, this is the first case in Canada, although it is prevalent across the border in the U.S.

The weed was destroyed and had not yet gone to seed.