To be held November 5th, from 8:30 a.m. – Noon, at the Powder River County Election Room

Palmer Amaranth, a pigweed relative, is one of the most serious weeds facing American agriculture today and it’s coming this way! After traveling across the southern U.S. and moving northward through the Midwestern states into North Dakota, it now sits on our doorstep. A free half day workshop, “Palmer Amaranth: It’s Coming! What You Need to Know” will be held in Sidney on Tuesday, November 5th. The workshop will also be broadcast as live webinar at County Extension Offices and research centers across the state, where participants will also be eligible for pesticide points.

According to Powder River Extension Agent Mary Rumph, the webinar will be held in Broadus at the Powder River County Courthouse Election room. Palmer Amaranth is one of the most adaptable and dangerously resistant weeds in the country. It can grow 2 to 3 inches a day (to a height of 6 or more feet), produce up to a half million seeds per plant and has demonstrated resistance to nearly all herbicides commonly available to producers for weed management. Farmers and ranchers across Montana need to take immediate action to identify and prevent establishment here, weed scientists working with this pernicious pest warn.

This workshop is designed to provide participants the necessary tools to do that. The featured speaker is Dr. Jason Bond, the weed control in agronomics crop specialist from Mississippi State University Extension and a 20-year veteran in battling Palmer Amaranth. He describes his talk as “what mistakes we made when Palmer Amaranth showed up and how to avoid doing the same.” Dr. Bond works out of the Delta Research and Extension Center and will discuss the problems that Mississippi producers have faced in trying to prevent and control Palmer Amaranth and what they’ve learned in the process. Dr. Bond will be joined by other weed experts including Dr. Brian Jenks, weed scientist at the North Central Research Extension Center in Minot, North Dakota. Dr. Jenks will discuss North Dakota’s efforts to prevent the spread of Palmer Amaranth since it was first identified there two years ago.

Also on tap is Dr. Tim Seipel, Montana State University Extension Cropland Specialist, who will discuss steps Montana producers can take to avoid infestations and more specifically what they can do to combat herbicide resistance.

Dr. John Gaskin, Molecular Botanist with the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory will discuss identification tips and possible biocontrols, while Plant Ecologist Dr. Natalie West, also with the Sidney ARS lab, will discuss the potential for drones in scouting for the weed. In addition to their various presentations, the program’s weed experts will also participate in a panel question and answer session with attendees. And finally, Richland County Extension Agent Tim Fine will join Dr. Gaskin to discuss other emerging crop and rangeland weeds MonDak producers need to be on the lookout for.

“Please join us for this very informative and timely workshop,” said Rumph. Please contact the Powder River Extension Office if you have questions at 436-2424.