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A growing problem is creeping up among crops throughout North Dakota and Minnesota. Some weeds have become resistant to the herbicides used to control them. In some parts of the country, growers have lost their farms because they didn’t act in time and the weeds got so out of hand, says Rich Zollinger, North Dakota State University Extension Service weed specialist. (.....) Some growers are taking the issue of herbicide-resistant weeds seriously, but when a grower doesn’t address the problem, LaPlante says it not only affects his field, but his neighbors’ fields as well, often traveling through waterways. “If growers collectively as a whole don’t get everybody on the same wagon, it may very well end up as a serious problem like in the South,” Zollinger says. In the Southern part of the country, a weed called Palmer amaranth has become glyphosate-resistant and has taken over entire farms, Zollinger says. “That one weed is worse than all five of our bad weeds,” he says. It adapts quickly, competes aggressively with corps, and can produce anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000 seeds, according to Purdue University Extension Service in Indiana, where Palmer amaranth has been confirmed. “It’s not too far away,” LaPlante says. “If that gets up into our waterways here, we’re all going to have a real serious problem.”