The allelochemicals 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA) and 6-methoxy-benzoxazolin-2-one (MBOA) in wheat are considered to have a role in plant defense against weeds. This study explored the effect of proximity to two weeds, wild oat and flixweed, on DIMBOA/MBOA production in wheat seedlings under hydroponic culture to identify whether the breeding of modern wheat varieties with higher concentrations of these compounds could ensure plant-mediated weed control. MBOA was detected and was noted to exert a significant response; its exudation by some wheat seedlings was significantly increased irrespective of whether the roots were in contact with or separate from those of the weeds. The weeds were a source of biotic stress to wheat when grown in proximity to it, and the stress resulted in production of higher levels of MBOA in wheat seedlings, although the concentration varied with the wheat cultivar. Therefore, the synthesis and exudation of DIMBOA/MBOA in wheat seedlings appears to be an active metabolic process influenced by the environment, particularly the presence of weeds.

Preventing the introduction of weeds into the farming system through sowing of clean seeds is an essential component of weed management. The weed seed contamination of cleaned grain and herbicide resistance levels of the recovered weed seeds were examined in a study conducted across 74 farms in the Western Australian grainbelt. Most farmers grew and conserved their own crop seed. The majority of cleaned samples had some level of seed contamination from 11 foreign weed and volunteer crop species, with an average of 62 seeds 10 kg−1 grain, substantially higher than the 28 seeds 10 kg−1 grain expected by farmers. The most common weed contaminants across all samples were rigid ryegrass, wild radish, brome, and wild oat. When categorized by crop type, rigid ryegrass was the most frequent contaminant of cereal crops (barley and wheat), however wild radish was the most frequent contaminant of lupin crops. Uncleaned crop seed samples had almost 25 times more contamination than cleaned crop seed. Herbicide resistance was highly prevalent within rigid ryegrass populations recovered from cleaned grain except for glyphosate, which controlled all populations tested. Some resistance was also found in wild radish and wild oat populations; however, brome was susceptible to fluazifop. This study has shown that farmers are unknowingly introducing weed seeds into their farming systems during crop seeding, many of which have herbicide resistance.

In summer, 2011, we investigated suspected glyphosate-resistant (GR) kochia in three chem-fallow fields (designated F1, F2, F3, each farmed by a different grower) in southern Alberta. This study characterizes glyphosate resistance in those populations, based on data from dose–response experiments. In a greenhouse experiment, the three populations exhibited a resistance factor ranging from 4 to 6 based on shoot biomass response (GR50 ratios), or 5 to 7 based on survival response (LD50 ratios). Similar results were found in a field dose–response experiment at Lethbridge, AB, in spring 2012 using the F2 kochia population. In fall 2011, we surveyed 46 fields within a 20-km radius of the three chem-fallow fields for GR kochia. In the greenhouse, populations were screened with glyphosate at 900 g ae ha−1. Seven populations were confirmed as GR, the farthest site located about 13 km from the three originally confirmed populations. An additional GR population more than 100 km away was later confirmed. Populations were screened for acetolactate synthase (ALS)–inhibitor (thifensulfuron : tribenuron) and dicamba resistance in the greenhouse, with molecular characterization of ALS-inhibitor resistance in the F1, F2, and F3 populations. All GR populations were resistant to the ALS-inhibiting herbicide, but susceptible to dicamba. ALS-inhibitor resistance in kochia was conferred by Pro197, Asp376, or Trp574 amino acid substitutions. Based upon a simple empirical model with a parameter for selection pressure, calculated from weed relative abundance and glyphosate efficacy, and a parameter for seedbank longevity, kochia, wild oat, and green foxtail were the top three weeds, respectively, predicted at risk of selection for glyphosate resistance in the semiarid Grassland region of the Canadian prairies; wild oat, green foxtail, and cleavers species were predicted at greatest risk in the subhumid Parkland region. This study confirms the first occurrence of a GR weed in western Canada. Future research on GR kochia will include monitoring, biology and ecology, fitness, mechanism of resistance, and best management practices.

Field experiments were conducted at the Montana State University Southern Agricultural Research Center, Huntley, MT, in 2011 through 2013 to determine the effect of nitrogen (N) rate, seeding rate, and weed removal timing on weed interference in barley. A delay in weed removal timing from the 3- to 4-leaf (LF) stage to the 8- to 10-LF stage of barley resulted in up to 3.5-fold increase in total weed biomass and 10% reduction in barley biomass, and this was unaffected by a N rate that ranged from 56 (low) to 168 (high) kg ha−1. The effect of N rate on barley biomass was more pronounced when weed removal was delayed from the 3- to 4-LF stage to the 8- to 10-LF stage of barley and in nontreated plots. Increasing the barley seeding rate from 38 to 152 kg ha−1 increased the barley plant density by 50%, biomass by 13%, and grain yield by 29%, averaged over N rates and weed removal timing. On the basis of 5 and 10% levels of acceptable yield loss, the addition of ≥112 kg N ha−1 delayed the critical timing of weed removal by at least 1.3 wk in barley, compared with the 56 kg N ha−1 rate. A medium or high N rate prevented reduction in barley grain quality (plumpness and test weight) observed when the seeding rate was increased from 38 to 76 or 152 kg ha−1 at the low N rate. In a separate greenhouse study, the effect of N rate on the effectiveness of various herbicides for controlling wild oat, green foxtail, kochia, or Russian thistle was investigated. Results highlighted that wild oat or green foxtail grown under 56 kg N ha−1 (low N) soil required 1.4 to 2.6 times higher doses of clodinafop, fenoxaprop, flucarbazone, glyphosate, glufosinate, pinoxaden, or tralkoxydim for 50% reduction in shoot dry weights (GR50) compared with plants grown under 168 kg N ha−1 (high N). Similarly, a reduced efficacy of thifensulfuron methyl + tribenuron methyl, metsulfuron methyl, or bromoxynil+pyrasulfotole was observed (evident from the GR50 values) for kochia or Russian thistle grown under low- vs. high-N soil. Information gained from this research will aid in developing cost-effective, integrated weed management (IWM) strategies in cereals and in educating growers on the importance of fertilizer N management as a component of IWM programs.