Certified Crop Advisors of Arkansas and members of the Arkansas Crop Consultants Association were surveyed in Fall 2006 through direct mail to assess current weed management practices and needs in cotton from both a research and educational perspective. Consultants reported scouting 162,300 of the possible 473,700 ha of cotton grown in Arkansas. Collectively, glyphosate-resistant and enhanced glyphosate-resistant cultivars were reported grown on 98% of the cotton hectares. Ninety-five percent of the consultants believe the planting of enhanced glyphosate-resistant cultivars will increase over the next 5 yr. All consultants indicated a “moderate” to “high” level of concern with herbicide-resistant weeds in cotton, and 79% of the consultants suspect herbicide resistance in the fields they scout, predominately glyphosate-resistant horseweed. Horseweed, Palmer amaranth, and morningglories were the three most problematic weeds in cotton. A continued focus on resistant weed management was the most frequent research and educational request by consultants.

Rice cutgrass is encroaching into rice fields from ditch banks and canals, especially into continuous rice fields where tillage is limited in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of various herbicides applied alone on rice cutgrass and to determine if the effectiveness of bispyribac on rice cutgrass is influenced by number of applications, adjuvant type, and adjuvant rate. Glyphosate, glufosinate, and clethodim were the most effective herbicides when applied alone; however, none of these are labeled for over-the-top application in rice. Of those herbicides that can be applied over the top of rice, imazethapyr and bispyribac were the most effective, providing 52 to 62% rice cutgrass control, albeit imazethapyr can be used only in imidazolinone-resistant rice. The addition of an adjuvant to bispyribac improved rice cutgrass control, and sequential bispyribac applications were generally superior to a single application. Methylated seed oil/organosilicone/urea ammonium nitrate adjuvant increased rice cutgrass control with bispyribac, especially when bispyribac was applied as a single application. A single application of imazethapyr, bispyribac, halosulfuron, penoxsulam, clomazone, thiobencarb, cyhalofop, propanil, quinclorac, and fenoxaprop provided less-than-acceptable control, which partially explains the difficulty that growers are experiencing in controlling rice cutgrass, especially in continuous rice production.

Certified Crop Advisors of Arkansas and members of the Arkansas Crop Consultants Association were surveyed in Fall 2006 through direct mail to assess current weed management practices and needs in rice from both a research and educational perspective. Consultants reported scouting 228.2 of the possible 567 thousand hectares (40%) of rice grown in Arkansas. Pre-emergence herbicides most often recommended were clomazone (93%) and quinclorac (40%). Propanil (55%) and quinclorac (47%) were the two most commonly recommended postemergence herbicides. Thirty-two percent of the consultants often recommend three or more herbicide applications per field. An average of 37% of the fields were believed to have “serious” or “very serious” weed infestations, and fields were scouted for weeds on average 11 times per growing season. Ninety-two percent of the consultants had “moderate” to “high” concerns with herbicide-resistant weeds. The perceived average additional expense associated with managing a resistant weed in rice was $65.60/ha. Propanil-resistant and quinclorac-resistant barnyardgrass were believed to be infesting 24 and 7% of the scouted rice hectares, respectively. Barnyardgrass was the most problematic weed of rice followed by red rice. Northern jointvetch and smartweeds were the two most problematic broadleaf weeds. The number one research need was improved broadleaf weed control. Respondents indicated that research and educational efforts should continue to focus on herbicide performance and development of economical weed control programs.

Failure of glyphosate to control Palmer amaranth was first reported in Arkansas in Mississippi County in June, 2005. The objectives of this research were to (a) confirm glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth in Arkansas, and (b) determine the effectiveness of 15 postemergence- (POST) applied herbicides comprising eight modes of action in controlling the glyphosate-resistant biotype compared to glyphosate-susceptible accessions. The LD50 values were similar among three susceptible Palmer amaranth accessions, ranging from 24.4 to 35.5 g ae/ha glyphosate. The resistant biotype had an LD50 of 2,820 g/ha glyphosate, which was 79- to 115-fold greater than that of the susceptible biotypes and 3.4 times a normal glyphosate-use rate of 840 g/ha. The glyphosate-resistant biotype was effectively controlled with most of the evaluated herbicides, but the use of acetolactate synthase-inhibiting herbicides such as pyrithiobac, trifloxysulfuron, and imazethapyr is not a viable option for control of this Palmer amaranth population.

Palmer amaranth accessions were collected from 21 fields in northeastern Arkansas in the fall of 2006 to determine if they differed in response to increasing doses of glyphosate and to determine the survival frequency following treatment with the label rate (870 g ae/ha). The herbicide dose required to kill 50% of individuals in an accession (LD50) ranged from 41 to 339 g/ha glyphosate, with most accessions responding similarly to glyphosate. The AR18 and AR19 were the least-sensitive accessions, with LD50 rates of 312 and 339 g/ha glyphosate, respectively. The mean survival frequency was 2.2% across all accessions when 870 g/ha glyphosate was applied to five- to seven-leaf plants. Sixteen of the accessions had at least one plant survive glyphosate at 870 g/ha. AR18 and AR19 accessions had a survival frequency of 6.3 and 11.8%, respectively. Following an additional cycle of selection with glyphosate, 44.3% of the progeny from the AR19 accession survived glyphosate at 870 g/ha, and its LD50 value significantly increased to 646 g/ha glyphosate. This research shows that there is a low percentage of Palmer amaranth plants currently present in production fields throughout northeastern Arkansas that are capable of surviving a single glyphosate application at the labeled rate and that further selection with glyphosate can increase the frequency of survival.

Certified Crop Advisors of Arkansas and members of the Arkansas Crop Consultants Association were surveyed in fall 2006 through direct mail to assess the current situation of the red rice problem and early impact of imidazolinone-resistant (IMR) rice technology on red rice infestation. The information generated represented 40% (226,800 ha) of rice production areas in Arkansas. Barnyardgrass and red rice were the most problematic weeds, with 62% of fields infested with red rice. The estimated economic loss due to red rice averaged $274/ha. Red rice infestation was prevented mostly by crop rotation (96%) and use of certified seed (86%). Of the red rice–infested fields, 38% had light infestation and 26% had severe red rice problems before adopting IMR rice. Thirty-seven percent of infested fields had been planted with IMR rice once and 43% at least twice. Approximately 85% of the consultants reported > 90% red rice control when using IMR rice. The majority (92%) of IMR rice growers rotate to other crops, mostly soybean. Unsuitable field condition was the main reason for growing only rice. After 3 seasons, the consultants perceived that red rice infestation level declined by 77% on average. The herbicide-resistance gene had escaped to red rice in some fields, and 90% of growers are exerting effort to mitigate outcrossing.