While we appear to be winning the battle against Palmer amaranth, I can see we are missing weeds with multiple methods of control, and we need better control to win the war in the long-term.

One thing I will say, I wish we had some straw or residue on more of our cotton fields to shade the soil and prevent emergence of weeds. In these tilled and bedded soils I am confident we are having to fight a little harder to control this weed than some of the farmers using a rye cover crop.

I recently received pictures from a farm in Jefferson County, Fla., that has herbicide resistant Palmer amaranth. They are using a high residue rye program to help choke out weeds with good success.

Stanley Culpepper, University of Georgia weed scientist, previously released a video called “Rolling High Rye for Conservation-Tillage Cotton Success.” This video describes the work of weed scientists at the University of Georgia who have been documenting the same things these early adopters have seen on their farm.

If you have 20 minutes, this is a well produced video that explains the system. The video can be found at http://www.cottoninc.com/fiber/AgriculturalDisciplines/Agronomy/Rolling-High-Rye/.

          More from Southeast Farm Press

Pigweed has become $100 million per year problem in Georgia cotton

North Dakota grower says there's nothing to fear from genetically modified wheat

'Carry' is important consideration in grain marketing