Yesterday I headed up to Minden City, MI with Christy Sprague and our newest master’s student, Amanda Harden. We were there to rate an on-farm research plot, looking at windgrass control in wheat using fall and spring applied herbicides. Windgrass is a winter annual weed, meaning it germinates in the fall, overwinters, and produces seed in the spring, putting it in direct competition with wheat. Windgrass could be confused with annual bluegrass, another winter annual, however the membranous ligule of windgrass is more jagged at the top, whereas the ligule of annual bluegrass is smooth. Additionally, the sheath of windgrass is rounded, whereas the sheath of annual bluegrass is more flattened. Look for the results this windgrass control study during the winter extension meetings and on MSUweeds.com.

Rating the 20 different weed control treatments

Collecting annual bluegrass (left) and windgrass (right) for photographing back on campus

Sheath profile of windgrass (left) and annual bluegrass (right)

What a difference two weeks can make! When working with rye as a cover crop the ideal incorporation time we aim for is around 18″ in height. If rye is allowed to progress further it is more likely to reduce the availability of nitrogen for the cash crop. Large rye can also tie up moisture and create a cloddy seedbed that may stress the cash crop. Last year we had a rainy period in April/May that prevented incorporation of our rye at the Student Organic Farm (SOF) until it reach a height of over 40″, which resulted in dry bean yield reductions in those plots at the end of the season. This year we were able to incorporate the SOF rye just before this latest wet streak, but we were not able to incorporate the rye at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) before the site received nearly 2″ of rain . The KBS rye jumped from 15-18″ on April 25th to as high as 56″ and heading out on May 8th! Thirty-eight inches in 14 days, wow! Because the soil was still too wet this week to chisel plow at KBS we flail mowed the cover crop and will incorporate it as soon as possible. Will this large rye negatively impact the dry bean crop at KBS? Stay tuned.

Rye height at SOF at the time of incorporation in 2012

Rye height at the time of mowing at KBS in 2012

Mark June 27th on your calendars to attend the 2012 MSU Weed Tour. This years tour will start out at the MSU Plant Path Field Lab on College Rd., north of Jolly Rd. The day will review our latest research in soybeans, corn, wheat, etc. In the afternoon a tour of what is happening with weed control in vegetables will take place at the MSU Horticulture farm.

Information about the day’s schedule and on-line registration are both available now at http://www.msuweeds.com/msu-weeds-com-events/2012-msu-weed-tour/

We hope to see you there!

When studying weeds we are often presented with new challenges, which keeps things interesting. A couple of weeks ago we received two feed samples (cotton seed covered with fiber) to examine. We were looking to see if we could find any weed seeds to determine if this is a possible way new weeds are entering Michigan (either before or after digestion).  Being that we never work with cotton, it became an exercise in creativity to figure out how we could get weed seeds out of the fiber. We tried mechanical separation with a  rub board, wet sieving, and burning. To see if burning would be an effective method we did a test with a cotton ball and some redroot pigweed seed. Pigweed seeds started flying out of the container we had them in and when we looked closely they resembled popped corn. Maybe there is a niche market for such a delicacy?   After ruling out burning, we finally had success using sulfuric acid to dissolve the fiber and did in fact find some weed seeds; though they were species we already have in Michigan.

Each spring Michigan State University holds the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum where students can present findings from research they conducted along MSU faculty and staff. This year approximately 560 MSU students presented research at the forum. We are pleased to report that our own David Reif (Crop and Soil Science senior & 4 year Weed Science assistant) took home the 1st place prize in the Agriculture and Animal Science Group 1. Dave presented his poster titled “Evaluation of Management Strategies for Field Dodder in Michigan Sugarbeet Production Systems”. Congratulations to Dave and best wishes as he pursues a career in sales/marketing with BASF upon graduation.

A special congratulations are in order to Alex Lindsey and Laura Bast who got married this past weekend here in East Lansing. The couple met while working on their graduate degrees in weed science here at Michigan State University. In addition to their wedding, it has been an eventful couple of weeks for the pair as Alex defended his M.S. thesis titled “Composted dairy manure and arbuscular mycorrhizae influence on weed competition and potato yield ” on March 30th and Laura defended her Ph.D. dissertation titled ” Influence of weeds on nitrogen cycling in corn agro-ecosystems” on April 10th. The Lindseys will now journey to the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH where Laura will begin a position as an agronomist working on soybeans and wheat and  Alex will begin a Ph.D. program in agronomy. Best wishes!

Glyphosate-resistant palmer amaranth is still a very new weed to Michigan. We have updated two extension publications regarding the identification (MSUWS01-2012) and confirmation and management (MSUWS02-2012) based on our ongoing research program to combat the spread of this prolific weed. You can view and print these publications by following the above links or in their permanent home in the Extension Publications section of MSUweeds.com.

In December 2011, the MSU weed science group traveled to chilly Milwaukee, WI to attend the 66th annual meeting of the North Central Weed Science Society. One of the highlights of the meeting is the chance for undergraduate and graduate students to compete against other universities within the region with poster and oral presentations regarding their research. This year MSU was well represented at the awards ceremony, bringing 5 awards back to East Lansing!

1st place Weed Biology, Ecology and Management, oral presentation

• Alexander Lindsey
• Dairy compost influence on weed competition and potato yield

1st place Mixed Student Papers, oral presentation

• Ryan Holmes
• Row width and population effects on weed and crop development in black and small red beans

2nd place Mixed Student Papers, oral presentation

• Alicia Spangler
• Differential response of common lambsquarters, Powell amaranth and sugarbeet to nitrogen

1st place Agronomic Crops, poster

• Laura Bast
• Evaluation of application program and timing in herbicide-resistant corn

1st place Undergraduate, poster

• David Reif
• Control of the parasitic weed field dodder in glyphosate-resistant sugar beets

*Thanks to Glenn Nice for providing photos from the event.

The 2012 Weed Control Guide for Field Crops is now available in the publications section of MSUweeds.com.

This publication is a guide in assisting field crop growers in the selection of weed control tools for the coming growing season. It includes crop-specific information, up-to-date tips on related issues like safe use of herbicides, resistance management, and environmental protection.

If you would like to obtain a paper copy of the bulletin please visit the Michigan State University Extension Bookstore and search publication number “434″.

The posters and oral presentation abstracts from the 2011 North Central Weed Science Society annual meeting in Milwaukee, WI and the 2012 Weed Science Society of America annual meeting in Waikoloa, HI are now posted in the presented research section of MSUweeds.com.