Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Annual Texas Plant Protection Conference in College Station in which a number of excellent presentations were made regarding emerging Agricultural technologies that will help make farmers and ranchers even better at what they do, producing the safest, and cheapest food supply in the world.  I will highlight only a few of the sessions that I attended that will have local implications in this column.

Herbicide resistant sorghum will present new opportunities to mange weeds in the future.  Thanks to a project started back in 2003 at Kansas State and Purdue University, we are getting very close to having commercial grain sorghum that has tolerance to ALS - and ACC inhibiting herbicides. 

This technology will allow for more effective postemergence grass control for sorghum producers and improve crop rotation and replant options.  Tests conducted throughout the state have proven the value of this new system on a number of weed species.  Moreover, this system could also be an effective weed resistance management tool when sorghum is part of a rotation where glyphosate resistance weeds are a problem.  Most all sorghum seed companies have licensed this technology, and introduction into the marketplace will have a far-reaching implications.