Assessment of soil management strategies for sustainable crop production, weed management and mitigation of herbicide carryover

Project Overview

GNC19-275
Project Type: Graduate Student
Funds awarded in 2019: $15,000.00
Projected End Date: 10/31/2022
Grant Recipient: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Region: North Central
State: Wisconsin
Graduate Student:
Kolby Grint
Email
Faculty Advisor:
Kolby Grint
Email
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Rodrigo Werle
Email
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Commodities

  • Agronomic: corn, soybeans

Practices

  • Crop Production: cover crops, crop rotation, no-till
  • Pest Management: chemical control, cultural control, integrated pest management, weed ecology

    Proposal abstract:

    The project titled “Assessment of soil management strategies for sustainable crop production, weed management and mitigation of herbicide carryover” will help farmers to better understand the influence of soil management practices on herbicide carryover, weed ecology, crop productivity, and farm economics. Research will be conducted in corn-soybean crop production systems in the North Central US with a focus on conventional tillage, no-till (NT), and a fall planted cover crop (CC) as soil management practices.

    Two studies involving the aforementioned soil management practices will be conducted. The first will determine the effect of herbicide carryover from soil residual corn (e.g. mesotrione and clopyralid) and soybean (e.g. imazethapyr and fomesafen) herbicides applied at reduced rates (25% and 50%) following fall harvest of these crops. Soil management practices will be implemented following herbicide application. Early season crop injury and grain yield data will be used to provide results on fate and potential carryover of soil residual herbicides. The second study will evaluate effects of soil management practices on the production system from multiple termination methods and times of a cereal rye CC. A holistic model will be used to evaluate the influence of soil and weed management practices on weed population dynamics (e.g., emergence window, total emergence, biomass), crop yield, and production system economics.

    The expected outcomes from this project are to increase adoption of conservation practices (NT+CC) in the North Central US by exploring the ability of these practices to mitigate herbicide carryover and improve sustainability of weed management strategies in crop production systems. Evaluating how these practices effect multiple aspects of crop production systems with modeling and field research generated results should provide information on how conservation practices can improve the sustainability of the production system.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    Expected learning outcomes from this project include increased farmer knowledge on the effects of soil conservation practices (NT+CC) on weed population dynamics and herbicide carryover. Farmers will learn how using these soil conservation practices may effect the productivity and profitability of their farms.

    Action outcomes of this project are predicted to be increased adoption of NT and CC in North Central production systems as it is expected that these soil conservation practice will have positive impacts on weed population dynamics an herbicide carryover. Showing farmers the potential for multiple benefits from using conservation practices in their production systems should positively influence their behavior and the potential for using more conservation practices.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.