Cover Crop Value in Managing Palmer Amaranth Now and in the Future

Growers are now down to just one registered herbicide that can control Palmer amaranth POST in cotton and soybean in the mid-south. The identification of PPO-resistance in the mid-south, stacked onto Palmer amaranth that is also glyphosate resistant as well as ALS-resistant clearly shows that simple reliance on just herbicides to control this pest is not sustainable.  

Integrating cover crops in with herbicides both on farmers’ fields and in research has shown more consistent and sustainable Palmer amaranth control then just using herbicide alone. In the future, flexibility in how dicamba and 2,4-D can be used with the new herbicide trait technologies could allow cover crops to be terminated closer to crop planting and therefore enhance the weed control provided by the cover crop.