b'in the field, growers can make more educated deci- seed industry produces. We dont expect newNOW MORE sions and better protect their yields year after year. herbicides or novel technologies to hit the marketTHAN EVER, I in the immediate future, so its essential to preserveTHINK GRADUATE SW: MSU is serving as the northernthe tools we do have. STUDENTS NEED diagnostic hub. What kind of weed threatsI know many companies already work hard toTO BE JACKS-OF-are you seeing in this region that seedsteward their traits internally. But as public-facingALL-TRADES. FIELD professionals should be paying closerinstitutions, land-grant universities also have aSCIENTISTS NEED attention to? responsibility to work directly with growers. I seeTO UNDERSTAND Patterson: We are interested in weeds that are wellHERMON as a bridge between industry and grow- LAB WORD AND LAB adapted to northern soybean productionnamelyers. We have the unique ability to communicateSCIENTISTS NEED waterhemp, marestail (horseweed) and ragweed.with both groups and understand their needs. TO UNDERSTAND Further south, groups are more focused on PalmerGROWER AND amaranth and various grass weeds. SW: Youve mentioned training the nextINDUSTRY The big resistance threats across the soybeangeneration of weed scientists. WhatPRIORITIES.region are 2,4-D (Enlist) and Glufosinate (Liberty),qualities or skills are you prioritizing in these which are critical for post-emergent weed controlfuture leaders?ERIC PATTERSONand have replaced some of what RoundUp used toPatterson: Now more than ever, I think graduate handle. Were also paying attention to weeds withstudents need to be jacks-of-all-trades. Field scien-stacked resistance traitsplants that can survivetists need to understand lab work, and lab scientists multiple independent applications or tank mixes.need to understand grower and industry priorities.And PPO resistance, both pre- and post-emer- HERMON allows us to take a multi-faceted gence, is a big one, especially in non-GMO soybean.approach to a complex issue like herbicide resistance Were currently investigating several Michigan rag- and train our students to think broadly while work-weed populations for PPO resistance. ing toward specific research goals. Were exposing them to experts across weed sciencemolecular, SW: What role do you see seed companiesbiochemical, physiological and agronomic.playing in the success of HERMON,Industry wants well-rounded scientists who particularly in implementing resistancesolve meaningful problems quickly and effectively. management strategies? They also need people who think outside the box to Patterson: Resistance management is all aboutdevelop new molecules, new traits and entirely new maintaining the shelf life of the new traits that theweed-management strategies.SWSEPTEMBER 2025SEEDWORLD.COM /37'