TEXAS: Glyphosate-resistant pigweed currently infests a large portion of Texas cotton farms and is expected to spread across the majority of farms in the near future if proactive management strategies are not implemented.

One female pigweed plant can produce over 500,000 seeds. That in itself is reason enough to take this problematic weed seriously, and glyphosate-resistant pigweed that is not managed properly will result in substantially more resistant weeds for following seasons.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension offers these best management strategies for preventing and managing glyphosate-resistant pigweed in Texas:

1. Start clean before planting – use burndown herbicides that do not contain glyphosate
2. Apply a preplant/pre-emergence herbicide
3. Utilize post-emergence weed management – assume you have or will have glyphosate-resistant pigweeds
4. Hand pull weeds

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension recommends that growers follow a minimum of three out of the four recommendations above to minimize the impact of glyphosate-resistant pigweed in cotton. Additionally, rotating herbicides with different modes of action is key to preventing and managing herbicide-resistant weeds. When appropriate, tillage is another good weed management strategy that will help reduce the risk of weed resistance.

To help combat glyphosate-resistant pigweed in cotton, Syngenta offers Envoke® herbicide. Envoke effectively controls many troublesome weed species, including many of those missed by glyphosate. Envoke can be applied alone or in a tank mix over-the-top or post-directed for excellent post-emergence and residual activity in-season. Additionally, this herbicide can also be applied in the fall or early winter for pre-emergent residual control of glyphosate-resistant horseweed and tough winter annuals.

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