Weeds

The 2015 University of Illinois Weed Science Field Day will be held next Wednesday, June 24th at the University of Illinois Crop Sciences Research and Education Center, located immediately south of the main campus. Coffee and refreshments will be available under the shade trees near the Seed House beginning at 8:00 a.m.
Similar to past years, we will car pool to the fields where participants can join in a guided (but informal) tour format. The tour will provide ample opportunity to look at research plots and interact with weed science faculty,…

The Department of Crop Sciences will host International Agronomy Day on August 31, 2015 at the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center at the University of Illinois. We have developed International Agronomy Day as an opportunity for international visitors to attend a field tour at the University of Illinois and interact with many of our faculty and staff.  International Agronomy Day will take place the day before the Farm Progress Show opens in Decatur to provide an opportunity for international visitors traveling to the United States to attend the Farm Progress Show to learn more about the research being conducted by our faculty and staff.…

Palmer amaranth continued to expand its presence in Illinois during 2014. Palmer amaranth populations have been confirmed in counties colored orange or blue in Figure 1; orange designates glyphosate-resistant populations are present in these counties. It should be neither construed nor assumed that Palmer amaranth populations occur only in the counties colored on this map. It is altogether likely that Palmer amaranth populations are present in many other counties. Emerged Palmer amaranth plants were observed on May 7 at our field research location west of Kankakee.…

A scouting trip last Thursday to our Palmer amaranth research location west of Kankakee revealed that Palmer amaranth plants had begun to emerge a few days before our arrival. Early and accurate identification of Palmer amaranth plants is an important component of an integrated management program, but differentiating among seedling-stage Amaranthus plants sometimes can be difficult. As plants become larger and reproductive structures are present, identification becomes increasingly easier. The following photographs might help renew your Amaranthus species identification skills.…

We invite you to attend the 2015 University of Illinois Weed Science Field Day on Wednesday, June 24th at the University of Illinois Crop Sciences Research and Education Center, located immediately south of the main campus. Coffee and refreshments will be available under the shade trees near the Seed House beginning at 8:00 a.m.
Similar to past years, we will car pool to the fields where participants can join in a guided (but informal) tour format.…

The rapid progress of corn planting sometimes can outpace the application of soil-residual herbicides.  In most instances these herbicides are applied within a few days after planting, but weather-and equipment-related factors can delay applications until after corn has emerged.
Most, but not all, soil residual herbicides can be applied after corn has emerged.  Products such as Balance Pro, Radius, Fierce, Prequel, Sharpen and Verdict must be applied before corn begins to emerge; applications of these products to emerged corn can result in significant corn injury. …

Many individuals involved in production agriculture have first-hand experience with the numerous challenges caused by herbicide-resistant weeds.  The magnitude of herbicide resistance is best measured on a worldwide scale.  The most recent summary indicates 450 unique cases of herbicide resistance—encompassing 245 species—occur globally.  Approximately 11–12 cases of unique resistance are discovered each year.  Methods employed to detect and study the evolution of herbicide resistance have improved greatly over time, but our understanding of the epidemiology of herbicide resistance has lagged.…

The harsh realities of poor marestail control with burndown herbicides applied before soybean planting were widespread during the 2013 growing season.  We anticipated even more challenges with this species for the 2014 growing season, but by and large the forecasted marestail “train wreck” did not materialize in much of the state.  Fall herbicide applications coupled with a harsh winter that caused a high degree of mortality to winter annual weed species probably contributed to a reduced population of marestail last spring. …

The most recent report on the condition of the Illinois winter wheat crop indicated approximately 10% of the crop was rated poor or very poor, while close to 90% was rated fair to excellent.  It appears likely that much of the wheat crop will remain intact, but in other instances farmers might elect to terminate poorer stands and plant corn or soybean.  If the decision is made to plant corn or soybean into wheat stands where some plants remain alive,…