Herbicide Resistant Weeds: Owner/Renter Behavior and Hazard Model Analysis

Much of the literature on herbicide resistant weeds suggests that farmers do not adopt resistance management practices on rented land to the same extent as on owned land. This study uses data from the USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey for corn and soybeans to compare adoption of resistance management practices on owned and rented land analyzing national and regional data for a variety of weed management practices. There was little support for the hypothesis that renters adopted resistance management practices less than owners. In most cases, there was no significant difference in adoption rates. In cases where there were statistically significant differences, it was more common that resistance management practice adoption was higher on rented land than on owned land. The second part of this study estimated a hazard model to predict when resistance to glyphosate would first be detected in corn fields in a state. The model was used to test hypotheses about whether adoption of different weed management practices delayed or sped up the onset of resistance. The analysis found evidence that greater use of phosphinic acid herbicides (the herbicide family that includes glyphosate) sped up the onset of glyphosate resistant weeds.

Thesis-Josh Albright-final.pdf (1.21 MB)

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