Search Results for “glyphosate” – Page 4

Fitness of herbicide resistance genes revisited

March 22, 2014February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

Last August, an article was published in New Phytologist that claimed a transgene added to rice could increase the fitness of a weedy relative. The paper was covered in the media pretty widely. When I read the paper, I didn’t think the authors presented nearly enough data to support their conclusions. You can find my criticisms in detail here. I think it is worth revisiting this paper now for a couple of reasons. The first is that two formal criticisms …

The “failure” of biotechnology to increase crop yield

February 26, 2014February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

For some reason, over the last few days I’ve heard a lot of people criticizing GMOs for not increasing crop yields. This criticism certainly isn’t new. I don’t really understand the reason for the sudden resurgence of this claim, but it does provide an excuse to address the topic with some actual data. GMOs can claim some successes, but a widespread quantum leap in the yield of important food crops is not one of them. – Jonathan Foley If you take a …

Are herbicides responsible for the decline in Monarch butterflies?

February 10, 2014February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

The monarch butterfly is in bad shape. The number of monarchs returning to their overwintering sites in Mexico has been declining steadily for at least a decade. The consensus suggests there are several reasons for this decline, including loss of their overwintering habitat and unfavorable weather patterns. But the purported cause of monarch decline that seems to get the most coverage is the loss of milkweed (Asclepias spp) in the midwestern US migratory path. The evidence seems clear that the number …

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 2,4-D Resistant Corn and Soybean Released

January 3, 2014February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

USDA-APHIS has just released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 2,4-D resistant corn and soybean. The 2,4-D resistant crops were developed by Dow AgroSciences using genetic engineering. The corn and soybeans will be marketed to growers as the “Enlist” weed control system. Crops with the Enlist trait will not only be 2,4-D resistant, but will also have stacked traits that make the crops resistant to glyphosate and glufosinate. The ability to use three very effective herbicide modes of action will …

Cotton growers continue to battle herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth

December 12, 2013February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

A new press release from WSSA was released a few days ago. The post is related to my recent post on cotton yields in the South. From the WSSA piece: “The current model simply isn’t sustainable,” says Stanley Culpepper, Ph.D., a professor in crop and soil science at the University of Georgia and member of WSSA. “Growers have gone to war, and they are making progress from a weed management perspective, but not from an economic or environmental perspective. We …

Large-scale impacts of herbicide-resistant weeds

December 2, 2013February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

As I was updating information on herbicide resistant weeds for class this week, I wanted to find some hard numbers on the large-scale impact herbicide-resistance can have. Obviously, my first thought was to find information on cotton production in the South. Glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth has been something of a poster child for the potentially devastating impacts of herbicide resistant weeds in the last few years. It has been dubbed a “superweed” by many, including Nature News, the New York Times, …

Do cultural and mechanical weed control practices delay development of herbicide resistant weeds?

November 15, 2013February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

Researchers from Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana will use kochia in a five-year study to help find a solution to weed-resistance to herbicides. Department of Plant Sciences associate professor Andrew Kniss has received a National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to analyze methods of weed control other than herbicide. “Diverse crop rotations and tillage are commonly recommended for management of herbicide-resistant weeds, but there is still not that much field-based information on how successful these approaches will be,” explained Kniss. “Since …

Could a herbicide-resistance gene provide fitness benefits in the absence of the herbicide?

August 22, 2013February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

A really interesting study was reported by Nature News, and has been picking up steam around the interwebs (including Wired and Scientific American). The headlines read “Genetically modified crops pass benefits to weeds” and “weeds get unintended ‘fitness’ boost from genetic modification.” The stories are reporting on a study in New Phytologist titled “A novel EPSP synthase transgene for glyphosate resistance stimulates growth and fecundity in weedy rice (Oryza sativa) without herbicide.” Sorry, not open access. I’ve read the paper a …

Carl Zimmer brings a refreshing bit of perspective to the discussion of herbicide resistant weeds

July 15, 2013February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

Weeds have been in the media quite a lot lately. Usually related to some sensational story about “superweeds” and how they’re “winning.” So it was extremely refreshing to read the measured take by Carl Zimmer in the New York Times Environment section, titled “Looking for Ways to Beat the Weeds.” Zimmer doesn’t resort to over-the-top statements and headlines as link-bait, and instead presents an interesting and accurate assessment of many of the problems with weeds. Perhaps most refreshing? He doesn’t …

The evidence of GMO harm in pig study is pretty flimsy

June 11, 2013February 15, 2018 - by Andrew Kniss

The latest really scary paper regarding GMOs has been circulated widely on Twitter today, primarily by the usual suspects (Bittman, Pollan, and many others). The paper (available here, on the blog of the primary author Judy Carman) is titled “A long-term toxicology study on pigs fed a combined genetically modified (GM) soy and GM maize diet.” The study has already been criticized for various reasons by David Tribe and Mark Lynas. The authors of the study fed pigs for nearly 2 years 22.7 weeks with either …