![Kevin Morthorpe, Pioneer canola specialist, was awarded the inaugural WeedSmart legend award in MIldura last week. Kevin Morthorpe, Pioneer canola specialist, was awarded the inaugural WeedSmart legend award in MIldura last week.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5Q2j7ezUfQBfUJsaqK3gfB/1fe98cd8-104e-4ed6-9b8d-2bbfcb26b3f4.jpg/r0_0_4000_6000_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
LONG time Pioneer canola specialist Kevin Morthorpe last week was awarded the inaugural WeedSmart legend award.
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The award was presented at the WeedSmart week event held in Mildura.
WeedSmart officials congratulated Mr Morthorpe on his contribution to weed management within the cropping sector.
Mr Morthorpe, who has recently moved into semi-retirement, has more than 40 years in the grains sector, with a keen focus on chemical stewardship.
He has been a member of WeedSmart's advisory committee since the organisation was set up to help combat the problem of increasing herbicide resistance in problem weeds in 2013.
The WeedSmart conference heard that Mr Morthorpe had been heavily involved in stewardship surrounding the nation's most important agricultural chemical, glyphosate.
This was due to Mr Morthorpe's work with Pioneer, which was working with the Roundup Ready glyphosate tolerant genetically modified trait in canola.
Mr Morthorpe's mission was to focus on industry good solutions to preserve the efficacy of the trait, which has reasoned would be good for Pioneer as well.
The WeedSmart team said he then worked tirelessly to protect the trait, which then led to WeedSmart developing guidelines similar to Pioneer's stewardship approach, which have helped farmers ensure the trait's longevity by minimising the risk of herbicide resistance.