Beware invasive, ‘frightening’ waterhemp
There’s a threat lurking on the edge of Manitoba farmers’ fields this fall that’s even scarier than the escalating trade war with their biggest customer. Provincial extension advisers are warning […]
Manitoba farmers are facing a potentially devastating threat this fall: the invasive weed known as tall waterhemp. Provincial extension advisers are sounding the alarm, warning that this weed could be towering above ready-to-harvest crops before farmers even realize it's there. Each waterhemp seed has the potential to sprout into a plant with stems as wide as saplings and heights reaching up to five meters. If left unchecked, waterhemp can quickly overrun a field, choking out crops and reducing yields by over 90 percent.
This aggressive weed is believed to have entered Manitoba from the United States via farm equipment and bird droppings, and it has already spread rapidly across the province. It now grows in all municipalities along the eastern half of Manitoba's agricultural lands and has even been spotted as far north as the Rural Municipality of Dauphin and the RM of Ellice-Archie, near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border.
Tall waterhemp grows up to 50 to 70 percent faster than other weeds, producing multiple flushes of new plants throughout the growing season. It can begin germinating even in late September and continue until the end of October, despite a late freeze. The weed is often mistaken for other pigweed species like Palmer amaranth or redroot pigweed, making it difficult to identify.
One of the biggest challenges in controlling waterhemp is its rapid development of resistance to herbicides commonly used by farmers. This means traditional weed control methods may no longer be effective. To prevent the spread of waterhemp, farmers are advised to take several precautions. First, they should avoid spreading seed via harvesting equipment by mowing field edges and drains that often serve as entry points for new weed species.
Any single plants or small clusters should be pulled out and discarded in garbage bags until they decompose. Farmers should also clean machinery thoroughly before moving to a new field and use disposable booties when entering the field, properly disposing of them afterwards.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
