Sugarbeet, grown for biofuel, is being considered as an alternate cool-season crop in the southeastern United States. Previous research identified ethofumesate PRE and phenmedipham + desmedipham POST as herbicides that controlled troublesome cool-season weeds in the region, specifically cutleaf evening-primrose. Research trials were conducted from 2014 through 2016 to evaluate an integrated system of sweep cultivation and reduced rates of ethofumesate PRE and/or phenmedipham+desmedipham POST for weed control in sugarbeet grown for biofuel. There were no interactions between the main effects of cultivation and herbicides for control of cutleaf evening-primrose and other cool-season species in two out of three years. Cultivation improved control of cool-season weeds, but the effect was largely independent of control provided by herbicides. Of the herbicide combinations evaluated, the best overall cool-season weed control was from systems that included either a 1/2X or 1X rate of phenmedipham+desmedipham POST. Either rate of ethofumesate PRE was less effective than phenmedipham+desmedipham POST. Despite improved cool-season weed control, sugarbeet yield was not affected by cultivation each year of the study. Sugarbeet yields were greater when treated with any herbicide combination that included either a 1/2X or 1X rate of phenmedipham+desmedipham POST compared with either rate of ethofumesate PRE alone or the nontreated control. These results indicate that cultivation has a very limited role in sugarbeet grown for biofuel. The premise of effective weed control based on an integration of cultivation and reduced herbicide rates does not appear to be viable for sugarbeet grown for biofuel.

Sugarbeet, grown for biofuel, is being considered as an alternate cool-season crop in the southeastern U.S. coastal plain. Typically, the crop would be seeded in the autumn, then grow through the winter and be harvested the following spring. Labels for herbicides registered for use on sugarbeet grown in the traditional sugarbeet production regions do not list any of the cool-season weeds common in the southeastern United States. Field trials were initiated near Ty Ty, GA, to evaluate all possible combinations of ethofumesate applied PRE, phenmedipham+desmedipham applied POST, clopyralid POST, and triflusulfuron POST for cool-season weed control in sugarbeet. Phenmedipham+desmedipham alone and in combination with clopyralid and/or triflusulfuron effectively controlled cutleaf eveningprimrose, lesser swinecress, henbit, and corn spurry when applied to seedling weeds. Ethofumesate PRE alone was not as effective in controlling cool-season weeds compared to treatments containing phenmedipham+desmedipham POST. However, ethofumesate PRE applied sequentially with phenmedipham+desmedipham POST improved weed control consistency. Clopyralid and/or triflusulfuron alone did not adequately control cutleaf eveningprimrose. Triflusulfuron alone effectively controlled wild radish. In the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 seasons, December-applied POST herbicides did not injure sugarbeet. However, in the 2015–2016 season POST herbicides were applied in late October. On the day of treatment, the maximum temperature was 25.4 C, which exceeded the established upper temperature limit of 22 C for safe application of phenmedipham+desmedipham, and sugarbeet plants were severely injured. In the southeastern United States, temperatures frequently exceed 22 C in early autumn, which may limit phenmedipham+desmedipham use for controlling troublesome cool-season weeds of sugarbeet in the region. Weed control options need to be expanded to compensate for this limitation.

Wild oat, a troublesome weed in small grain cereals, infests about 11 million ha of cropland in the United States. Diversifying cereal production with alternative crops, such as yellow mustard and canola, provides flexible cropping systems, decreases production risks, and may allow more effective weed suppression. A greenhouse study was conducted to assess the competitive ability of yellow mustard and canola with wild oat in 1999 and 2000, using replacement series interference experiments to relate the results to plant development stages. Yellow mustard, regardless of its proportion in mixture, reduced aboveground biomass of wild oat 33 to 66%, leaf and tiller number 34 to 36%, and panicle production 58% compared with wild oat in monoculture. Canola did not affect wild oat biomass in mixtures. Yellow mustard per plant biomass in 2000 and inflorescence production in 1999 decreased 30 and 20% with increased density of yellow mustard in mixtures. Yellow mustard biomass was not affected by the addition of wild oat to the mixture, indicating the greater importance of intraspecific competition between yellow mustard relative to interspecific competition with wild oat. Canola per plant biomass was affected more by interspecific competition with wild oat than by intraspecific competition. A second greenhouse experiment was conducted to compare plant height and biomass accumulation by the three species over 7 wk. Yellow mustard had the greatest biomass accumulation and plant elongation rate, followed by canola and wild oat. The greater competitive ability of yellow mustard with wild oat, compared with canola, is likely associated with the rapid growth and canopy elevation of yellow mustard.

Wild oat, a troublesome weed in cereals, infests about 11 million hectares of cropland in the United States. Diversifying cereal production with alternative crops, such as yellow mustard and canola, can provide flexibility in cropping systems, decrease production risks, and allow for effective weed suppression. The objective of the study was to quantify the competitive ability of yellow mustard and canola relative to wild oat in addition series field experiments, which were conducted in 1999 and 2000 near Genesee, ID. Biomass and seed production of wild oat were reduced 67 and 80%, respectively, in mixtures with yellow mustard, which was three to four times greater than the reduction in corresponding mixtures with canola. In addition, yellow mustard reduced the biomass and seed production of wild oat equally regardless of wild oat density. In contrast, the competitive effect of canola on wild oat biomass decreased 5 to 10 times when wild oat density increased from 100 to 200 plants m−2. Yellow mustard at all densities and at both biomass harvests suppressed wild oat biomass and seed production similarly. But suppression of wild oat by canola increased as canola density increased, and canola plants were more competitive at the flowering stage than at the rosette stage. Wild oat had little or no effect on yellow mustard seed yield but reduced canola seed yield 37%, when averaged over canola densities. Additionally, the oil content of canola seed was reduced 0.4% for every 1% of wild oat seed in the harvested seed. Models developed in this study accurately predicted plant populations of yellow mustard and canola that provided optimal weed suppression and crop yield for different wild oat populations.

This study determined the competitive potential of the temperate southeastern U.S. region to produce selected fresh vegetables for the national market. Results indicated that the region may be competitive in the production and marketing of snap beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, and spring tomatoes. The region would also be competitive in the production and marketing of broccoli, summer and fall tomatoes, and spinach, given cost reductions of 10 to 15 percent. Major cost reductions were required for the region to be competitive in the production and interregional marketing of sweet onions in the absence of effective product differentiation.

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the competitive and complementary potential of fresh vegetable production relative to traditional row crop production using a regional partial equilibrium model. It seems clear from the analysis that vegetable crops are not destined in the near future to replace row crops in terms of land utilization. Nevertheless, vegetable crops appear to compete with and complement row crops well as evidenced by substantial increases in production as market share was assumed to increase. However, fresh vegetables cannot be considered as residual enterprises to which producers move when the demand for row crops declines. Even with a simulated 20 percent decrease in the demand for row crops, the acreage of fresh vegetables did not increase.

“Finding Your Agricultural Advantage” is a collection of four programs—one to generate case studies, one to do “trial-and-error” solutions, one to display linear programming solutions, and one to maintain case study data files. The four programs can be used together or individually as instructor preferences dictate in teaching farm planning. A step-by-step method for teaching with the software is presented as an example of its use.

Alternative crops, with appropriate markets and infrastructure, provide farmers the potential for diversification to offset financial stress caused by an overabundant supply of a limited number of species grown over a broad area. The objective of this work was to develop a model that would identify where soil and climate conditions are likely to be suitable for a large number of crops over a large geographic region. The model was used to screen 414 crops for suitability to Illinois conditions. The 414 crops were a subset of 968 candidate crops, for which crop soil (texture, pH, drainage) and climate (temperature, precipitation, growing season length, minimum winter temperature) requirements were identified from a literature search. The simple model was linked to geographic information system software to evaluate the suitability of the soil and climate conditions of Illinois. Two of the 414 crops were classified as highly suitable in more than 50% of the state's land area, 18 suitable in more than 90% of the state, and a total of 83 crops were rated as suitable to highly suitable in more than 90% of the state. Comparison of the suitability maps to known ranges of existing crops, and limited evaluation of 15 crops classified as suitable, moderately suitable and unsuitable for Urbana, Illinois conditions in a demonstration plot, showed this model's utility to a limited area, and suggests that the model can be applied to any region where geographically referenced soil and climate data either exist or can be developed.

Salinity is widely perceived to have severe effects on farmers in Pakistan. However, to date there is little direct evidence on how salinity specifically affects farm operations and the patterns of agricultural activity, and how farmers seek to overcome the effects of salinity. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the causes of soil salinity and to consider possible remedial actions whereby farmers might reduce its adverse effects. Correlation analysis was used to determine whether farmers responded to soil salinity in identifiable patterns of socioeconomic activity and behavior. Throughout these analyses, it was assumed that salinity was the primary force driving the farming systems. Soil salinity was found to pose real constraints to agricultural productivity and the economic livelihoods of Pakistani farmers. With few notable exceptions, no discernible patterns in responses to soil salinity have emerged. Aside from the more traditional and costly methods for dealing with the problem, no new technologies to combat soil salinity have been widely disseminated, due to socioeconomic limitations of most farmers and general lack of awareness. Yet, the data indicate that in order to increase agricultural productivity, alternative technologies are needed, such as trees and shrubs to lower the water table, more effective water management to prevent waterlogging, and salt-tolerant and -resistant strains of edible crops. Without these measures, it is likely the situation will worsen in the coming years.

Double-cropping provides a method of diversifying the rotation, maximizing production, and increasing the profit potential of a cropping system. We assessed agronomic and economic performance of five alternative crops in comparison to the no-till wheat-soybean double-cropping system prevalent in the southern Corn Belt. Canola has shown potential as a profitable winter crop, but its effects on the subsequent crop in a no-till double-crop system required further study. Amaranth, buckwheat, sunflower, and pearl millet were planted after the harvest of canola or wheat, or after fallow. Alternative double-crop grain yield, production costs, and net returns were compared with those of double-crop soybean.

Wheat yielded more than canola. Sunflower grain yields did not differ significantly after winter-crop treatments at any site. Yields of amaranth, buckwheat, soybean, and pearl millet differed after winter crops at some sites. At three study yield levels, net returns were positive and greatest for double-crop wheat-amaranth, canola-amaranth, wheat-sunflower, and canola-sunflower systems. All double-crop systems except canolapearl millet had positive net returns at median study yield levels. Low or negative net returns resulted from the combination of low yield and low price for some double crops. Canola was shown to be an economically feasible alternative to wheat in a doublecropping system for central and southern Missouri. Buckwheat and sunflower were shown to be agronomically and economically competitive alternatives to soybean following either canola or winter wheat, with buckwheat most valuable in late-season planting conditions.

Amaranth is an alternative grain crop that shows significant promise in the U.S. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to analyze the most suitable regions for growing amaranth in Missouri. GIS software provides tools to manipulate and display geographically based information, in this case the factors affecting amaranth's suitability. Of several such factors considered, the ones used were soils, rainfall, sorghum production, disease potential, and labor availability. Soil, rainfall, and disease information were assumed to be direct factors in yield potential. Current sorghum production areas were considered likely areas for amaranth production, given the similarities between the crops. Labor availability also was assumed to affect adoption, since amaranth requires more labor than traditional grain crops. The analysis showed that central and southeastern Missouri would be the most favorable areas for amaranth production. Other suitable areas are along the Mississippi and Missouri river valleys and in western Missouri. This GIS approach can be modified to include additional factors and refinements, and could be used with other alternative crops or for other regions of the country.