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Weeds “biggest struggle” farmers faced this year

An agronomist suggests weeds were very difficult to control this year.

Zach Trower covers eastern Iowa for Syngenta Crop Protection.

“That has definitely been the talk of 2022. There’s always one big conversation around a territory or agriculture in general, and I think weed control was the biggest struggle that we faced not only in Iowa but really in the Midwest.”

With harvest picking up, he tells Brownfield a lot of farmers will be surprised by the number of weeds.

“When you look at weed control, we kind of had the perfect storm this year. We had really high input costs, which obviously makes growers kind of reel back. But also the environment.”

Trower says weeds like waterhemp thrive in hot, dry conditions common across many growing regions this summer.