If you believe prairie growing conditions will get warmer in future years, and possibly drier too, here’s what that could mean for the spread of kochia. 

Kochia is more than tough – it’s almost unfair. It is comfortable growing in cool temperatures and soil, and can emerge weeks before spring-planted crops. Then again, kochia also thrives when hot summer temperatures cause crops like wheat to suffer. 

While there’s no silver bullet for kochia, research shows that combining chemical and cultural practices can help manage this weed and slow its spread.

Everyone knows that kochia is a challenging weed in Western Canada. It emerges early in cool spring soils, often before crops are even planted. It produces large amounts of seed that disperse widely and it thrives in dry, hot and saline conditions where crops may struggle.

Kochia has unique characteristics that allow it to thrive in the southern Prairies. Knowing the weed’s biology and ecology provides the basis for a rigorous defense.

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Control kochia and cleavers early

The number of acres infested with kochia has gone up significantly in the past five years. Some kochia biotypes are even resistant to multiple groups of herbicides (2, 4 &9).

Cleavers is another difficult weed to control. It’s on the rise too as it has spread quickly through the dark brown, black and grey wooded soil zones.

FMC has canola growers covered from pre-seed to post-harvest with products that control weeds and insect pests in canola.