To: Area Ag Professionals
From: Keith Jarvi, Nebraska Extension Educator
I would like to invite you to a workshop that I feel will address the growing concern of pest resistance to pesticides and transgenic crops.
Pest (weed, insect, or disease) resistance to pesticides is not a new thing. In fact, pest resistance toanypest management tool, tactic or strategy (chemical or nonchemical) has been documented from nearly the time when humans began cultivating plants.In Nebraska, several weeds have developed resistance to some of our common herbicides, particularly glyphosate. Repeated use of the same herbicide was always the main reason for weed resistance to herbicides worldwide.
Insects have shown a similar pattern in developing resistance to many types of insecticides used to control crop pests.Nebraska has had a long history with insecticide resistant pests; the western corn rootworm has been particularly difficult and has developed resistance to numerous insecticides for both larval and adult controls. In addition, corn rootworm in parts of Nebraska and the Midwest have developed resistance to some of the Bt proteins found in genetically modified corn, leaving growers with fewer control options and greater management costs. In the United States alone, crop losses due to pesticide resistance are estimated at $1.4 billion annually.
Plant pathogens have not shown significant development of resistance to fungicides for our most common diseases in field crops, however, we do have some and the increased use of fungicides may lead to more resistance issues.Fungicides are still a primary mean of controlling plant diseases and many companies are developing products with multiple modes of action as a means of providing more durable products and manage resistance development.
The main objective of this workshop is to educate agricultural clientele and farmers about the importance of herbicide, insecticide and fungicide resistance management, mode of action, and how to use this information to reduce potential spread of weeds, insects and plant pathogens in Nebraska.
This workshop will be held in Wayne at the Wayne Fire Hall on Monday, March 7, and run from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. Lunch and many materials will be provided, along with hands-on training to develop resistance management plans.
The cost of this meeting will be $50.00 which includes lunch, refreshments, and materials. The only way to register is to do so online at agronomy.unl.edu/pest-resistance. I hope you will consider attending as it I believe it would benefit your clientele greatly.
Please contact me with any questions you may have at or call 402-584-3819.