Resurging Residuals
29 May 2012 Farmers in the US have a little joke: How do you kill glyphosate-resistant weeds? More glyphosate.
That wink and nod between farmers is not as funny as it was just five years ago. Glyphosate- resistant weeds are infesting fields and choking out the technology that helped make US growers the most productive in the world. Now, US growers are spending almost twice as much per hectare to control hard-to-kill weeds with combinations of ACCase inhibitors, ALS inhibitors, triazines and other modes of action, all of which have documented resistance issues of their own.
This is the fallout from overusing glyphosate, the result of which has jeopardized the efficacy of arguably the most effective herbicide in human history.
Let’s be honest: Glyphosate was treated like an agronomic silver bullet. And it worked flawlessly, at least for a time. It continues to be the most widely used herbicide in the world, garnering about $6 billion of the world’s $45.2 billion in crop protection sales – more than 13% of the total market despite rock-bottom prices in most of the world for the better part of three years.
The rise in popularity of Roundup Ready cropping systems led to the rise of a profitable sub-industry, and many companies benefited from widespread GMO adoption in the Americas, Australia and other pockets of the world. Now, those companies that profited from the exploitation of glyphosate must be sophisticated enough to react to market dynamics, specifically the rise of legacy chemistries to help keep glyphosate viable.
Our cover story on 2,4-D chronicles the beginning of the next phase in cropping systems: crops resistant to multiple modes of action. 2,4-D, dicamba, glufosinate, atrazine and other legacy chemistries are making a comeback in the US, and presumably, there is a latent demand built into other markets that adopted glyphosate-resistant cropping systems. Glyphosate-resistant weeds have been documented in 11 biotypes on every continent, most acutely in the US, Brazil, Spain, South Africa, Australia and Argentina. A total of 13 countries have reported resistance, including China.
US import records reveal a steady rise in decades-old chemistries (see “Herbicides Making a Comeback” in our archives.)
Anecdotally, I’ve been told about similar trends in South America. Ironically, despite the longevity of some of the older chemistries, there are farmers in developed agriculture economies that have never had to manage fields with anything but glyphosate. After more than 15 years of commercialization of Roundup Ready crops, it appears that the king of crop protection is experiencing the repercussions of being on top.
The takeaway: Crop protection companies must reposition their portfolios to take advantage of agronomic occurrences in the world’s most productive farmlands. Roundup changed everything. Resistance took much longer than other actives, but it is only the integration of a balanced crop protection program that will ensure the sustainability of modern agriculture.
In countries where early adoption to GMOs occurred, legacy chemistries will be in high demand. Overcapacity of 2,4-D and some other herbicides cloud the picture a bit, but it is clear that countries just now adopting herbicide-resistant seeds will benefit from the 18-year case study playing out in mature markets.
Manufacturers and distributors capable of transferring IPM knowledge stand to reap the rewards of a balanced portfolio with inventory moving through the value chain. Combination products will become the new standard, and formulation technology the new blockbuster.
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