Field experiments were conducted during 1982 to 1988 in Virginia to evaluate BAS 517, CGA 82725, clethodim, cloproxydim, fenoxaprop, fluazifop, fluazifop-P, haloxyfop, paraquat, quizalofop, SC-1084, sethoxydim, sethoxydim plus thifensulfuron, and terbacil for control of annual grasses in alfalfa. Herbicides were applied to alfalfa and grasses 2 to 30 cm in height after the first and/or second cuttings. Overall, the herbicides were highly effective in controlling fall panicum, giant foxtail, barnyardgrass, and large crabgrass. Alfalfa yields were not increased with herbicide treatments in several experiments. Only paraquat, applied later than recommended after cutting in one experiment, and sethoxydim plus thifensulfuron at one location reduced alfalfa yields.

Experiments were conducted from 1988 through 1991 to evaluate the effectiveness of imazethapyr alone and in combination with metolachlor for control of yellow and purple nutsedge. Imazethapyr alone at 0.07 kg ha–1 controlled yellow nutsedge irregularly while the addition of metolachlor greatly improved control. Metolachlor preplant incorporated (PPI) followed by imazethapyr at ground-crack (GC) or postemergence (POST) controlled 72 to 96% of yellow nutsedge, whereas a tank-mix of metolachlor plus imazethapyr PPI controlled 85 to 96%. The addition of metolachlor to imazethapyr did not result in any improvement in control of purple nutsedge. Metolachlor plus imazethapyr PPI controlled ≥ 85% of purple nutsedge PPI, whereas imazethapyr POST controlled ≥ 94%.

Technology is now available to create herbicide-tolerant crops. This technology, when combined with environmentally and toxicologically sound herbicides and when used wisely in an integrated weed management program, can contribute positively to crop production. However, it is unlikely that herbicide-tolerant crops will revolutionize weed management. Instead, they will complement existing weed management practices and provide additional options to growers. Adoption and success of herbicide-tolerant crops will be dependent on several technical, environmental, business, economic, and societal issues. Industries that are developing herbicide-tolerant crops need to openly communicate and discuss both the value that their technology brings to agriculture and society and the strategies for ensuring its responsible use.

Experiments were conducted to evaluate imazaquin and selected herbicides for POST control of wild garlic. At the same dosages, imazaquin applied in late November/early December (late fall) controlled wild garlic better than when applied in early March (late winter) when assessed in May. Imazaquin provided control equivalent to 1120 g ae ha–1 2,4-D plus imazaquin. Imazapyr, imazamethabenz, or imazethapyr at 280, 1120, or 560 g ai ha–1, respectively, provided control equivalent to 560 g ai ha–1 imazaquin. Thifensulfuron at 70 g ai ha–1 provided better control applied in late winter (85%) than late fall (45%). All herbicides consistently provided better control than 2,4-D plus mecoprop plus dicamba, except thifensulfuron applied in late fall, at the final evaluation. Common bermudagrass growth in early spring was delayed 2 mo by ≥ 560 g ha–1 imazaquin, 70 g ha–1 thifensulfuron, imazethapyr, and imazapyr or 2,4-D plus mecoprop plus dicamba applied in late winter. Imazamethabenz did not delay common bermudagrass growth. Late fall applications of 1120 g ha–1 imazaquin did not delay growth while ≥ 560 g ha–1 imazethapyr delayed common bermudagrass growth through April.

The efficacy of nine granular formulations of a bioherbicide containing the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary was determined by assessing vegetative growth from tap roots of treated plants after incubation in a controlled environment. Plants treated with formulations 0788-03 or 0788-04 did not produce new petioles and leaves from tap roots after 96 h at 23 C and 100% relative humidity.

The regulation of transgenic plants is at the very early stages of dialog between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Herbicide resistance is discussed in the broader terms of resistance management and of the cooperative efforts underway involving governments, industry, academia, and the environmental community on an international level. A new body, the International Organization for Resistant Pest Management (IOPRM) was formed to implement pesticide resistance management programs worldwide. The research base for integrated pest management programs which form the context for pesticide resistance management programs is in need of expansion. Public and private efforts to expand this base converge in an ambitious collaborative program between the U.S. EPA and USDA entitled the National Integrated Pest Management Forum. Finally, the potential role of EPA in the regulation of resistance management is discussed.

Dicamba and 2,4-D, which are used prior to seeding in conservation tillage systems, were applied in late fall and early spring to determine their residual effect on subsequent spring-seeded crops. The herbicides 2,4-D ester and 2,4-D amine with dicamba or glyphosate, applied 0 or 15 d prior to spring seeding, damaged canola, peas, lentils, and alfalfa. The legumes were damaged by spring-applied dicamba. There was also a slight reduction in the total dry matter yield of wheat and barley by 2,4-D applied in spring prior to seeding. All crops tested, except lentils, were tolerant of recommended fall applications of 2,4-D for the control of winter annual flixweed and field pennycress.

Dicamba, 2,4-D, picloram, and commercially available premixes of glyphosate plus 2,4-D or glyphosate plus dicamba were evaluated alone and in combination for field bindweed control in a winter wheat-fallow system in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Montana. Approximately one year after application, herbicide mixtures containing picloram at 0.14 or 0.28 kg ai ha-1 provided the best control. In five of seven locations, the control provided by picloram in herbicide mixtures was greater than the control provided by glyphosate plus 2,4-D, 2,4-D, or dicamba when these products were mixed with picloram. Glyphosate plus 2,4-D or glyphosate plus dicamba premixes, or 2,4-D added to dicamba were less effective for long-term control of field bindweed than mixtures containing 0.14 kg ai ha-1 or more of picloram. Under drought conditions in Kansas in 1988, picloram did not control field bindweed as well as in Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana where rainfall was normal.

‘Vernal’ alfalfa response was evaluated when chlorsulfuron, thifensulfuron, 2,4-D, glyphosate, bromoxynil, and selected combinations of those herbicides were applied at rates simulating spray drift during the fourth trifoliolate leaf stage following the first cutting in 1990 and 1991. The order of phytotoxicity was 2,4-D > chlorsulfuron > thifensulfuron > glyphosate > bromoxynil. By the end of each growing season, alfalfa had recovered from injury caused by all herbicides except the highest rates of 2,4-D and 2,4-D plus glyphosate. The alfalfa stand was reduced only by 2,4-D and 2,4-D plus glyphosate. All herbicides caused characteristic symptoms, but some specific symptoms were similar among different herbicides or resembled symptoms caused by disease, mineral imbalance, and adverse weather conditions.

Crop enterprise budgets for eight crops prepared from a sample of 131 farms in the Chaouia region of Settat province, Morocco show that weed management is a component of crop production. Although all farmers used herbicides on small grains, weed control was accomplished primarily with hired and family labor. In general, labor is more plentiful than capital and the per hectare cost of using hired labor is low. The percentage of total cash expenditures assigned to weed management averaged more than 5% in each farm size group. However, there was substantial variability among crops. Average hours spent to manage weeds was nearly constant for the three groups. Barley received the least labor and corn or a food legume the most. Farmers of small farms used more family labor and those of large farms used more hired labor.

Weed resistance has not generally been considered a serious problem where herbicide rotations and combinations are used. Herbicide-tolerant crops present new opportunities for decreasing risk of crop injury, decreasing carryover problems, broadening control spectrum, and for using herbicides that present less risk to the environment. However, herbicide-tolerant crops that allow intensified use of some herbicides may allow tolerant weed species to proliferate and herbicide carryover problems to increase for certain crops. Those responsible for the technology transfer process will need to keep well informed and objectively provide clientele with the basis for appropriate decisions as new weed control systems are designed as a result of these developments.

Studies were conducted in 1989 and 1990 to determine the phytotoxicity of chlorimuron and tank mixtures on ‘Florunner’ peanut. Chlorimuron plus a petroleum oil adjuvant or 2,4-DB was more phytotoxic (P = 0.05) than chlorimuron plus a nonionic surfactant, based on stunting and chlorosis. Chlorimuron mixed with chlorothalonil, chlorothalonil plus sulfur, or esfenvalerate were no more phytotoxic than the standard. Adding sulfur or nonionic surfactant to chlorimuron plus chlorothalonil did not affect phytoxicity. Sequential applications of chlorimuron and 2,4-DB did not completely negate the phytotoxicity of the tank mixture. Despite differences in phytotoxicity, yields were not reduced.

The development of crop cultivars with resistance to selected herbicides has the potential to impact environmental quality, food safety, consumers, and crop producers in either a positive or negative manner. The technology that makes it possible to develop herbicide-resistant crops is neither good nor bad, it is rather how the products of this technology are used that will determine whether or not the introduction of herbicide-resistant crops is ultimately a good or bad decision. The introduction of herbicide-resistant crops will have diverse impacts leading to redundancy, diversity, and confusion in crop production systems. Often the introduction of herbicide-resistant cultivars will have the same impact on cropping systems as the introduction of a new herbicide that has the same mode-of-action and use pattern of herbicides already in use. This may add diversity of herbicide options for a given crop but will cause redundancy of product use over several years. This redundancy could lead to weed resistance and water quality concerns. Confusion at the user level will exist because not all cultivars of a crop will be resistant to the herbicide; this could be the major deterrent to widespread adoption of herbicide-resistant crops. Steps must be taken to provide information to crop producers that will insure that herbicide-resistant crops are used effectively and safely. Weed scientists will determine whether this technology will be used to improve food safety, water quality, crop production systems, and farmer profitability or have a negative impact on agriculture and the whole of society.

Field and container studies were conducted to determine effects of prodiamine on Florida betony and leatherleaf fern. Effects of Florida betony competition on leatherleaf fern frond yield and quality were also determined. Seed germination and growth and flowering of established Florida betony decreased with increasing prodiamine application rates; 4.5 kg ai ha-1 or higher prevented seed germination and eliminated or nearly eradicated established betony one year after treatment. Prodiamine treatments up to 6.7 kg ai ha-1 did not affect leatherleaf fern growth, frond yield (number, fresh weight) or quality (color, size, vase life). When leatherleaf fern and Florida betony were grown together in containers for 7 mo, fern frond yield and quality were reduced.

Field research was conducted in 1988 and 1989 to compare effects of clethodim, fenoxaprop, haloxyfop, and sethoxydim each applied singly and sequentially at full (1X) and reduced (0.5X) rates on barnyardgrass, bearded sprangletop, and rice. A tank-mixture of propanil plus thiobencarb (2.2 + 2.2 kg ha–1) applied sequentially was included as a standard treatment. Control of barnyardgrass and bearded sprangletop was equal to that of the standard treatment both years with 1X rates of clethodim and fenoxaprop, and with 0.5X rates of clethodim, fenoxaprop, and sethoxydim each applied after propanil; rice so treated produced high grain yields. In 1988, severe rice injury occurred after the second application of clethodim at the 0.5X rate, but rice recovered. Grass control costs were reduced 57% with a single application of fenoxaprop at the 1X rate compared with the standard treatment, but net returns were not different.

This study was conducted to determine the tolerance of three cultivars of rice (‘Lemont’, ‘Mars', and ‘Tebonnet’) to bromoxynil and triclopyr. The effects of two rates of application (the labeled rate and twice the labeled rate) at three different growth stages (two- to three-leaf stage, four- to five-leaf stage, and panicle initiation) on percent visible injury rating and percent grain yield reduction of rice were investigated. Percent visible injury ratings for triclopyr averaged across all rates and application times, were 15, 16, and 25% (LSD = 3%) for Tebonnet, Mars, and Lemont, respectively, whereas ratings for bromoxynil were 11, 8, and 7% injury (LSD = 2%). Tebonnet was more tolerant than Lemont to triclopyr with an average percent grain yield reduction, across treatments, of 6% compared with 9% for Mars and 12% for Lemont (LSD = 4%). Bromoxynil did not decrease the average yield of any of the three cultivars.

The discipline of weed science is entering a critical period in its development. Decisions made in the next few years will determine if weed science will remain weed control technology oriented or develop into a broad-based scientific discipline. Over the last 30 yr the evolution of weed science has been based on the development of weed control methods. Currently, most crop production systems rely very heavily on one weed control technology, herbicides. Agriculture is now in a debate with society over how food and fiber should be produced. Society is asking weed science, because of food safety and water quality concerns, to develop new methods to control weeds. To do this, weed science must put more emphasis on principles-based research that can provide the basic knowledge required to develop new weed control technology. Weed scientists must join forces with private citizens and organizations concerned with the effect of current agricultural practices on the environment, to obtain, through the political process, new resources for weed science research. These resources are needed to develop the basic principles that will support the development of new weed control technologies with reduced environmental impact. Weed scientists must decide if they are going to lead the direction of weed science research or be led reluctantly by others.

The effects of droplet size and numerical deposit density on herbicide efficacy differed among investigations that relied on commercial nozzles to produce droplets strictly within small, medium, or large sizes. A droplet generator capable of producing uniform and homogeneous droplets was therefore used in a greenhouse experiment. Four droplet size classes (150, 350, 450, and 650 μm) using glyphosate, hexazinone, and triclopyr on red alder, aspen, and white birch were studied. Herbicides applied in small (150 to 450-μm) droplets were more phytotoxic than large (660-μm) ones because of their greater numerical coverage and translocation. Leaf age, weed species, herbicide type, and mixture of droplet sizes were not critical in modifying the effects of droplet behavior; however, the concentrations of herbicide used had a positive effect. When the herbicides were applied at high concentrations, the influence of droplet size was nullified. These findings may help reduce the cost of application and the chemical burden in a forest environment.