Soft red winter wheat cultivars were evaluated in field experiments in Georgia for tolerance to dicamba alone and mixed with 2,4-D. Treatments reduced ‘Florida 302’ yield more than ‘Florida 301’ or ‘Coker 983’ at Tifton in 1986. Mid-tillering Florida 302 wheat was more sensitive to treatment than fully tillered wheat. In 1987, dicamba plus 2,4-D applied at mid-tillering reduced yields of all cultivars in Watkinsville. Injury and yield reductions occurred primarily when mid-tiller treatments were applied to wheat that was planted 10 or 21 days later than recommended at Tifton or Watkinsville, respectively. When applied according to labeling, dicamba or dicamba plus 2,4-D use in Georgia soft red winter wheat can reduce grain yield.

The effectiveness of single and repeated annual preharvest glyphosate applications (1 to 2 wk before crop harvest) to reduce Canada thistle populations was evaluated in field experiments near Bezanson, AB, Scott, SK, and St. Albert, AB. Single applications of glyphosate at 0.45 to 1.8 kg/ha at Bezanson and St. Albert reduced Canada thistle shoot density by more than 75% but in the three experiments at Scott 1.8 kg/ha was required to consistently obtain a similar reduction. Four consecutive, annual applications of glyphosate at 0.45 kg/ha or more did not eliminate Canada thistle but reduced shoot densities by more than 98% at Bezanson. At Scott, similar reductions occurred in two of three sites following two consecutive, annual preharvest applications of glyphosate at the same rates. In the third Scott site the 1.8 kg/ha rate of glyphosate provided a similar reduction but lower rates did not. At Bezanson, barley yields following the first, second, and third applications of glyphosate at 0.45 kg/ha or more were 14% greater than check plots where MCPA was applied in the spring. Yields of wheat seeded 1 yr after a single application of glyphosate at St. Albert were 26% greater than from unsprayed checks. Barley yields seeded 1 yr after each glyphosate application at Scott were not affected because Canada thistle populations were sparse.

Glyphosate-resistant spring wheat is being developed and may soon be available to growers. Field experiments were conducted to examine the effect of various rates and application timings of glyphosate on the tolerance of glyphosate-resistant spring wheat and the level of weed control attained with glyphosate in wheat. Glyphosate-resistant wheat exhibited excellent tolerance to glyphosate applied at the one- to two- or four- to five-leaf stages at rates up to 1,780 g ae/ha, representing a fourfold safety margin to the proposed field use rate. Glyphosate at 445 g/ha reduced shoot biomass of green foxtail, wild oat, redroot pigweed, and wild mustard > 95% in glyphosate-resistant wheat in all years, but wild buckwheat biomass was only reduced 67 to 75% at doses up to 890 g/ha. Glyphosate applied in-crop at 667 g/ha reduced quackgrass biomass by 97 to 99%. Comparison of glyphosate with other spring wheat herbicides indicated that glyphosate provided similar or better in-crop control of several weed species. Yield of weed-infested glyphosate-resistant spring wheat responded positively to glyphosate in all years.