Lincoln, Neb. —The Western Society of Weed Science will host a free symposium on Palmer amaranth on Thursday, March 7, at the Grand Hyatt in Denver, Colo. The symposium will be held during the society’s annual meeting.
Parts of Colorado and Western Nebraska have struggled with herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth for several years, with significant impacts on minor and specialty crop industries. In 2023, Palmer amaranth was identified for the first time in the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest. The symposium will bring together academics, industry leaders, and impacted stakeholders to discuss Palmer's current and anticipated impacts across the region.
The symposium is free to the public as a service of the WSWS. It will also be streamed live at https://unl.zoom.us/j/94462430766.
For those wishing to attend other functions offered by the WSWS during their annual meeting March 4-7, visit https://wsweedscience.org/annual-meeting-2024.
The symposium agenda is as follows:
- 9:30 a.m. - Origin stories: hypotheses for the rise of Palmer amaranth, Kelsey Brock, Assistant Professor University of Wyoming
- 10 a.m. - Impacts of Palmer amaranth to the dry bean industry, Jerry Haynes, Agronomist at Jack’s Bean Company
- 10:20 a.m. - Impacts of Palmer amaranth to the sugar beet industry, Rebecca Larson, vice President, Chief Scientist, and Governmental Affairs for Western Sugar Cooperative
- 10:40 a.m. - Impacts of Palmer amaranth to the seed industry, Laura Pottorff, Director of Seed Programs – Colorado State University
- 11 a.m. - State of Palmer amaranth resistance in the west, Todd Gaines, Associate Professor Colorado State University
- 11:30 a.m. - Management of Palmer amaranth in the West., Nevin Lawrence, Associate Professor University of Nebraska
The symposium has been organized by Nevin Lawrence – University of Nebraska – nlawrence2@unl.edu, Albert Adjesiwor - University of Idaho - aadjesiwor@uidaho.edu, and Andrew Kniss – University of Wyoming – akniss@uwyo.edu.