Field research was conducted at Fargo, Langdon, and Prosper, ND to determine carryover of clopyralid applied at 70 to 560 g ae ha-1 in soil as indicated by response of crops planted 1 yr after application. Flax, potato, and safflower growth at Fargo were not affected by clopyralid residues. At Fargo, soybean height, stand, and yield were reduced by residues from clopyralid at 560 g ha-1, and sunflower heads ha-1 and yield were reduced by residues from clopyralid at 280 and 560 g ha-1 and 560 g ha-1, respectively. Potato and sunflower at Langdon and Prosper and lentil at Langdon were not affected by clopyralid residues. Soybean yield at Prosper was not affected by clopyralid residues, but plant height was reduced by residues from clopyralid at 280 and 560 g ha-1. These results indicate that residues from clopyralid applied at labeled cropland rates, of 280 g ha-1 or less, in silty clay, clay loam, and silty clay loam soils in North Dakota probably will not adversely affect the dicot crops tested in these experiments planted 11 mo or more after application.

Producers need alternative methods to manage jointed goatgrass because there are no herbicides that selectively control jointed goatgrass in winter wheat. The effect of crop residue incorporated in soil on reducing seedling growth of jointed goatgrass was examined in the greenhouse. Residues of corn, proso millet, safflower, grain sorghum, and winter wheat reduced fresh weight of jointed goatgrass by 70 to 85%. Applying N fertilizer at 33 or 66 kg ha−1 diminished this effect, indicating that residue stimulated microbial immobilization of N. Ethiozin applied preemergence at 0.2 μg g−1 soil reduced jointed goatgrass seedling growth by 50%, but combining crop residue with ethiozin did not synergistically improve control of jointed goatgrass. These results suggest that producers may favor winter wheat growth over jointed goatgrass by incorporating crop residue in soil with tillage before planting and by banding N with winter wheat seed at planting.

Studies quantifying weed seed production as a function of weed density are expensive and difficult, and lack of these data is a common limitation in modeling weed population dynamics over time. Observed empirical and theoretical relationships between crop yield loss curves and weed seed production curves led us to the hypothesis that there should be a strong relationship between the shapes of these two curves. Data from literature sources were evaluated to test this hypothesis for hyperbolic curves and to determine if the data describing the crop yield loss caused by weeds could provide estimates of the shape parameter of a hyperbolic equation for describing density dependence in weed reproduction. For each of 162 data sets, a shape parameter (N50) and a scale parameter (U) were estimated for an increasing hyperbolic model both for absolute crop yield loss as a function of weed density (N50YL, UYL) and for weed yield (either total biomass yield or seed yield) as a function of weed density (N50WY, UWY). N50YL was strongly correlated with N50WY across all data sets, with an apparent 1:1 relationship between the two. This relationship suggests that the shape parameter of the yield loss model may substitute for the shape parameter of a hyperbolic model describing the density-dependence of weed seed production. This substitution will be most useful in weed population modeling situations where data describing crop yield loss as a function of weed density are already available, but data describing weed seed production as a function of weed density are not available.

Producers in the semiarid Great Plains are exploring alternative crop rotations, with the goal of replacing winter wheat–fallow. In 1993, a study was established to compare performance of eight rotations comprised of various combinations with winter wheat (W), spring wheat (SW), dry pea (Pea), safflower (Saf), corn (C), sunflower (Sun), proso millet (M), or fallow (F). After 8 years, we characterized weed communities by recording seedling emergence in each rotation. Seventeen species were observed, with downy brome, kochia, horseweed, and stinkgrass comprising 87% of the community. Rotations with the least number of weed seedlings were W–F and SW–W–C–Sun; in comparison, weed density was six-fold higher in W–M. Density of downy brome and kochia was highest in W–M compared with other rotations, whereas stinkgrass and green foxtail were prominent in proso millet of the W–M and W–C–M rotations. Horseweed established readily in safflower and dry pea. In the semiarid Great Plains, designing rotations in a cycle of four that includes cool- and warm-season crops can be a key component of integrated weed management.

This study determined the potential of the tortoise beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to control Canada thistle (Asteraceae) in Iran. Genetic analysis of the tortoise beetle, based on mitochondrial DNA, confirmed the presence of the species in Iran. A field experiment using five insect densities (0 to 20 larvae plant−1) showed a positive correlation between the number of larvae transferred and impact. Feeding by 20 larvae reduced total biomass of Canada thistle by 78% and the number of capitula by 94%. More important, when grown in competition with wheat, four and eight egg batches (corresponding to approximately 12 and 24 larvae) per Canada thistle plant increased wheat ear weight by 46 and 82%, respectively. Host range studies with 22 crop and 21 weed species using no-choice and multiple-choice tests under laboratory and field conditions and parallel data from a field survey showed that joint feeding and oviposition were restricted to Canada thistle and a few other weed species. Limited feeding, without oviposition, was recorded on an additional seven weed species but also on safflower (10 to 15% reduction in biomass), and common sunflower (< 10%); the latter only under no-choice conditions. The growing period of either crop species, however, does not coincide with the feeding period of the tortoise beetle in the field. Findings indicate that the tortoise beetle is a promising biological control agent for Canada thistle in arable crops and grasslands in Iran. Other complementary methods will likely be needed to prevent substantial yield losses.