ONTARIO, Ore.—Kochia weeds that are resistant to the Roundup herbicide can now be found in sugarbeet fields throughout Malheur County in Eastern Oregon and parts of Canyon County in southwestern Idaho.
Weed scientists worry it’s a matter of time before they’re abundant in sugarbeet fields throughout southcentral Idaho as well.
Virtually all of the 180,000 acres of sugarbeets grown in the region are genetically engineered to resist applications of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, the popular weed killer produced by Monsanto Corp.
Glyphosate-resistant kochia weeds were first detected in Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho in 2014 and weed scientists had initially hoped their numbers would remain small.
“In Malheur County in the Treasure Valley, it’s pretty much all over the place,” said Joel Felix, an Oregon State University weed scientist in Ontario. “And we know it’s in Canyon County across the river (in Idaho).”
While glyphosate-tolerant kochia weeds have been found in southcentral Idaho, they aren’t widespread there yet, said Don Morishita, a University of Idaho weed scientist in Kimberly.
However, he added, “I’m waiting for it to start showing up in great numbers here, too. I’m expecting that.”
Felix said kochia is a tumbleweed and he believes some of the glyphosate-tolerant weeds are detaching from fence lines or along field edges and dropping seed as they tumble through sugarbeet fields.
Source: www.capitalpress.com