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Success of the USDA-Funded
RESIST POA PROJECT By J. Scott McElroy Professor, Turfgrass Management and Weed Science, Auburn University
and James D. McCurdy Professor and Extension Specialist, Turfgrass Management, Mississippi State University
G
iven the current climate surrounding federal funding discussions, we want to provide detailed information about research outcomes from the ResistPoa project. Our goal is transparency about what taxpayer dollars accomplished when this project received funding. For information regarding this project, please see http://resistpoa.org/.
Project Background ResistPoa launched in 2018 as a nationwide initiative to tackle the growing problem of herbicide-resistant annual bluegrass (Poa annua) in turfgrass systems. This four-year, $5.7 million project, funded by the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative brought together 16 scientists from 15 universities across the country. The project had clear objectives: develop better management practices for annual bluegrass control, map the extent of herbicide resistance nationwide, and create decision-support tools for turf practitioners. Essentially, we needed to understand how bad the resistance problem really was and give golf course superintendents, sports field managers, and other turf professionals the tools to fight back. Annual bluegrass might seem like a small problem, but it’s not. This weed costs the turfgrass industry millions of dollars annually in control measures and lost playability. When herbicides stop working, managers face expensive reseeding, overseeding, and intensive maintenance schedules that strain budgets and resources.
Nationwide Resistance Survey Our team’s biggest accomplishment was conducting the first comprehensive national survey of herbicide resistance in annual bluegrass. We collected and tested over 1,300 populations from turf sites across five different climate zones. The results were sobering—by 2023, we documented populations resistant to up to nine different herbicide modes of action.
28 North Carolina Turf gr a ss
