Field trials were conducted in 1996 and 1997 to determine the influence of glufosinate and glyphosate application rates, application timings, and interrow cultivation on weed control and corn yield. Glufosinate-ammonium rates ranged from 0.18 to 0.41 kg ai/ha, while rates for the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate ranged from 0.21 to 0.84 kg ae/ha. Increasing rates of glufosinate and glyphosate often improved weed control. Control of many of the weed species was improved by delaying herbicide application timing. Weed control was most consistent from late postemergence (LPOST) applications of glufosinate at 0.41 kg ai/ha or glyphosate at 0.84 kg ae/ha. Corn yields were reduced due to incomplete weed control when the lowest rate of glufosinate was applied. Weed control from early postemergence (EPOST) glufosinate and glyphosate applications followed by cultivation was similar to weed control from LPOST glufosinate and glyphosate applications without cultivation. Interrow cultivation following glufosinate or glyphosate application did not affect corn yield.

Greenhouse and laboratory studies were conducted to examine certain characteristics of RPA 201772 and how they may affect its utility. 14C-RPA 201772 was used to determine the stability of RPA 201772 in various pH spray solutions over time. After 24 h, degradation of RPA 201772 was 20, 36, and 93% in spray solutions adjusted to pH 4.0, 7.0, and 10.0, respectively. The major metabolite was diketonitrile (DKN), which is herbicidally active. In addition, 9 and 15% of the RPA 201772 had degraded into an inactive benzoic acid derivative at pH 7.0 and 10.0, respectively. The differences in herbicidal activity of RPA 201772 and its metabolite DKN were also evaluated. Corn seeds and velvetleaf seeds readily imbibed RPA 201772, but only low levels of DKN were imbibed. Preemergence (applications of RPA 201772 and DKN were equally active on corn and velvetleaf. Further studies determined that the principal sites of uptake of RPA 201772 by corn was roots and seeds for four different corn hybrids. Another study determined that light was required for RPA 201772 activity. Corn shoots from seeds germinated under 14 h of light exhibited rate-dependent injury, while corn germinated and grown in the darkness was not injured.

Field experiments were conducted during 1996 and 1998 to determine the effect of atrazine, bentazon, atrazine + bentazon, the amine salt of 2,4-D, and bromoxynil on broadleaf signalgrass and barnyardgrass control when applied in mixture with sethoxydim. Herbicide combinations were applied with crop oil concentrate, crop oil concentrate + ammonium sulfate, or BCH 815. Bentazon and atrazine + bentazon reduced broadleaf signalgrass and barnyardgrass control by sethoxydim. Bromoxynil reduced barnyardgrass control but had no affect on broadleaf signalgrass control. Including ammonium sulfate with crop oil concentrate or substituting BCH 815 for crop oil concentrate increased barnyardgrass and broadleaf signalgrass control by sethoxydim when applied with bentazon. Ammonium sulfate and BCH 815 increased barnyardgrass control when sethoxydim was applied with bromoxynil but did not affect control when sethoxydim was applied with atrazine + bentazon. Atrazine and the ammonium salt of 2,4-D did not reduce barnyardgrass and broadleaf signalgrass control by sethoxydim regardless of adjuvant.

Field experiments were conducted at Dekalb, IL, in 1996 and 1997 to determine the optimum application timing and rate of cloransulam for giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) control in soybean (Glycine max). Cloransulam treatments included preplant incorporated (PPI) and preemergence (PRE) applications of 35 g ai/ha and early postemergence (EPOST), postemergence (POST), and late postemergence (LPOST) applications of 18 or 27 g ai/ha. Cloransulam applied at 18 g/ha was also combined with lactofen at 70 g ai/ha at each POST application timing. At 60 d after LPOST, cloransulam applied PPI provided 68% giant ragweed control in 1996 and 1997 compared to PRE applications, which provided 95 and 25% giant ragweed control, respectively. The reduction in giant ragweed control with PRE applications of cloransulam in 1997 was likely due to insufficient rainfall for activation. Cloransulam applied at 18 g/ha EPOST provided 87 and 88% giant ragweed control, respectively, in 1996 and 1997. Cloransulam applied POST provided 97 and 82% giant ragweed control, respectively, in successive years. Delaying cloransulam application until LPOST reduced giant ragweed control to 53 and 47%, respectively, in 1996 and 1997 compared to EPOST and POST. At EPOST and POST application timings, increasing the rate of cloransulam to 27 g/ha or adding lactofen did not improve giant ragweed control. However, giant ragweed control was improved by at least 20% by increasing the rate of cloransulam to 27 g/ha at LPOST. Similarly, applying cloransulam in combination with lactofen improved giant ragweed control by at least 15% at LPOST.

Two field studies, a seeded study and a golf course study, were conducted to compare competition among creeping bentgrass, annual bluegrass, and roughstalk bluegrass when subjected to common weed control practices and foliar applications of iron and magnesium. A research site was selected for the seeded study and divided into 10 whole plots receiving irrigation at either 50 or 100% evapotranspiration deficit. Each whole plot was further divided into subplots receiving one of seven treatments: bensulide, ethofumesate, trinexapac-ethyl, foliar Mg, foliar Fe, foliar Mg plus foliar Fe, and control. The site was seeded to a mixture of creeping bentgrass, annual bluegrass, and roughstalk bluegrass in September 1995, and treatments began in March 1996. Annual bluegrass was reduced 29% in plots treated with foliar Fe and 65% in plots treated with foliar Fe plus foliar Mg. Roughstalk bluegrass was significantly reduced in seeded plots treated with foliar iron (50%), plant growth regulator (75%), and foliar iron plus foliar magnesium (100%). Annual bluegrass and roughstalk bluegrass proportions were not affected by irrigation regime. In a second study, the most effective treatment, foliar magnesium plus foliar iron, was tested on a working golf course fairway and on a practice putting green beginning April 1997 and ending November 1997. Treatments on the golf course fairway and practice putting green were ineffective due to the established, perennial nature of the annual bluegrass biotypes on these sites. Further research is required to improve the efficacy of nutritional treatments on these perennials.

Rhizobacteria have been shown to be phytotoxic to leafy spurge in laboratory assays. This field study investigated the influence of two strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens [Trevisan, (Migula)], deleterious rhizobacteria (DRB), on root weight, root bud number, and root carbohydrate content of leafy spurge at three sites located in northeast and north-central South Dakota. Soils were inoculated with 2 g of starch-based granules containing no bacteria or starch granules containing 108colony-forming units (cfu)/g of either bacterial strain LS102 (Montana origin) or LS174 (South Dakota origin). Bacterial strains were detected on root samples from treated areas. Root weight and root carbohydrate content were reduced about 20% compared to roots from control plots.

Changing the number of ethylene oxide (EO) units on a nonylphenol surfactant changes its physicochemical and biological properties. Increasing the number of EO units makes the surfactant more hydrophilic and increases its hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB). Surfactants with high HLB values, more than 16, were the most active with the hydrophilic herbicide glyphosate. More lipophilic surfactants with HLB values from 11 to 13 were more active with the lipophilic herbicide, the ethyl ester of quizalofop-P. Surfactants with intermediate HLB values were the most active with the herbicide that had intermediate water solubility, nicosulfuron. Matching the physicochemical properties of the herbicide and surfactant improved biological efficacy on giant foxtail.