Pigweed has been called many names in recent years. Some names can be repeated at a Sunday picnic and some names shouldn't. Pigweed’s nuisance varies across the region. But Palmer amaranth is a survivor, and a symbol of what can happen when a single-minded farm management strategy is used too much.

Farmers yet to deal with its herbicide-resistant flavor know time isn’t on their side. Farmers dealing with the problem now work far too expensively to stay on top of it. Progress has been made, and a movement is taking place now not only to stay ahead of the growing pigweed epidemic but to economically handle it through new management strategies and chemistry combinations.

Pigweed’s herbicide-resistant history is simple but very real. Its future control won’t be as simple but can be just as real.