Field trials were conducted to determine potato response to parts per trillion (ppt) per weight concentrations of sulfometuron in soil. The herbicide was applied to achieve targeted, 0-d soil concentrations of 0, 7.5, 15, 30, 60, 120, 240, 480, and 960 ppt. Russet Burbank potatoes were planted immediately after application using standard agronomic practices. Based on midseason visual evaluations, root and tuber injury occurred with 0-d concentrations of only 7.5 ppt. Concentrations at or above 120 ppt caused a significant increase in number of tubers with deformities compared with the control. By the end of the growing season, 0-d concentrations between 120 and 240 ppt resulted in higher percentages of tubers with deformities, such as cracks, knobs, or folds. Using logistic models fit to U.S. No. 1 tuber yield and net return data, doses of 74, 156, and 324 ppt are predicted to result in 5, 10, and 20% U.S. No. 1 yield reductions, respectively. The model predicted a 20% net return loss, approximately $160/ha, occurring at 262 ppt, which is near the 240 ppt concentration determined by standard ANOVAs and means comparisons with single degree of freedom contrasts causing significant tuber quality and yield reductions in our study. Growers using the 240 ppt concentration as an indicator of a no-effect level would encounter actual losses too great to withstand. This modeling approach provides an initial attempt at giving growers the tools necessary for assessing potential losses.

Potato producers rely heavily on herbicides for the majority of weed control. However, recent occurrences of herbicide-resistant weed populations and the lack of new herbicide registrations have stimulated interest in alternative strategies. The choice of potato cultivars that can suppress or tolerate weed competition could be a component of an integrated weed management system to reduce reliance on herbicides. The competitive ability of 10 potato cultivars—‘Atlantic’, ‘Bannock Russet’, ‘Dark Red Norland’, ‘Goldrush’, ‘Rodeo’, ‘Russet Burbank’, ‘Russet Norkotah’, ‘Snowden’, ‘Superior’, and ‘Villetta Rose’—was evaluated in 2006 and 2007 in Hancock, WI. Weed competition treatments included (1) weedy throughout the season, (2) weed-free from emergence to 4 wk after emergence (WAE) by hand-weeding, and (3) weed-free by hand-weeding for the entire season. Potato cultivars did not differ in ability to reduce weed biomass. Early-season time of potato emergence and canopy closure, as well as weed competition treatments, were strongly related to potato tuber yield. In general, Bannock Russet yield relative to weed-free controls of the same cultivar was less than that of most other cultivars. Overall, Atlantic, Russet Burbank, Snowden, and Superior yields (relative to weed-free control yields) usually were greater than the yields of other cultivars under weedy conditions. Although the ability to suppress weeds was similar among cultivars, differences in yield among cultivars grown in the presence of weeds suggest differential tolerances of weed competition.