The Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) has released a free digital decision-support tool designed to help farmers rapidly evaluate herbicide tank-mix efficacy ahead of the 2026 spray season, a development with direct implications for input cost management across corn, cotton, and soybean supply chains.
The Check My Herbicide Plan tool, developed with contributions from two WSSA member scientists and hosted on the Getting Rid Of Weeds (GROW) platform, delivers instant feedback on planned herbicide programs covering burndown, preemergence, and postemergence applications. The tool additionally calculates the number of effective modes of action contained within a given program and rates the efficacy of each herbicide against targeted weed populations — two metrics agronomists and crop advisers cite as critical to managing resistance risk.
For food and agribusiness supply chains, herbicide efficacy has become an increasingly material variable. Weed pressure and herbicide-resistant species can reduce corn yields by an estimated 50% and soybean yields by up to 50% in severe infestations, according to WSSA research, putting crop input strategy at the centre of procurement and margin planning for processors, grain traders, and consumer packaged goods companies reliant on domestic commodity flows.
The tool arrives as input cost volatility continues to pressure farm-level economics. With herbicide prices remaining elevated relative to pre-2022 baselines and resistant weed populations expanding across the Corn Belt and Mid-South cotton regions, optimising tank-mix selection represents a tangible lever for controlling per-acre expenditure without sacrificing weed control — a balance that filters upstream into commodity availability and pricing for food manufacturers.
WSSA said the tool reflects a broader push by its member scientists to translate weed science research into accessible, practical formats for growers. The GROW platform, on which the tool is hosted, aggregates integrated weed management resources and is positioned as a year-round planning resource rather than a single-season reference. Industry analysts tracking agri-input and supply-chain trends note that digital agronomic tools increasingly influence purchasing decisions at the co-op and farm-management-service level, with adoption accelerating among large-acreage operators managing complex rotations.
For food and beverage industry participants monitoring commodity crop production risks, the WSSA tool represents a structural attempt to stabilise weed-control outcomes at the farm gate — one upstream data point in the longer chain connecting field-level agronomy to ingredient availability and cost.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
