Farmers: The U of M needs your help in herbicide resistance survey

Minnesota corn farmers can play a key role in helping a multi-state team of university researchers better understand the spread of herbicide resistant weeds.

On Nov. 20, surveys will be sent by email to farmers selected for diversity of farm size, crops grown, and geographic location. About 10,000 surveys will be sent nationwide, including Minnesota. If you receive this survey in your email on Nov. 20, it is important that you take the time to fill it out.

Individual responses will remain confidential. You can read a full news release with additional details on the survey here. Here is a snippet from the release:

Researchers aim to gain deeper insights into herbicidal resistance in corn, soybean, sugarbeets and cotton — its causes, consequences and strategies used to cope with it.

“Farmers are the front lines of herbicide resistance. The information they can provide will be essential to help build an effective response to the growing problem of herbicide-resistant weeds,” said University of Minnesota Extension agronomist Jeff Gunsolus, who represents Minnesota on the research team, along with Terry Hurley, University of Minnesota agricultural economics professor. “The survey will help the research team better understand the human dimensions of herbicide resistance as well as how these weeds are spreading.”

Not all Minnesota farmers will receive the survey. Check your email inbox on Nov. 20, and if you were one of the farmers selected to participate, follow the instructions on completing the survey.

The full University of Minnesota Extension news release on the survey can be viewed here.