Herbicide Metabolism To Be Featured in Nov. 18 WSU Extension Webinar

PULLMAN, Wash. – How plants metabolize herbicides, rendering them either deadly or duds, will be the focus of the next installment in Washington State University Extension’s “Research that Works for You” Webinar series. The presentation will begin at 10 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 18, at http://breeze.wsu.edu/research_that_works_for_you/.

Tim Miller, associate scientist and long-time Extension educator, will present “A Herbicide Metabolism Primer” during the Webinar. He leads the weed science program at WSU’s Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center at Mount Vernon.

“Herbicides applied to plants may kill the plant or have very little or no effect on the plant,” Miller said. “If an herbicide is not broken down by a plant, it usually winds up interrupting a vital process the plant must perform for its survival, resulting in injury or death. If an herbicide is broken down by the plant quickly enough, very little plant injury results.”

He said the Webinar will focus on the processes of herbicide metabolism, “perhaps demystifying herbicide selectivity and fate.”

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