FARGO, N.D. -- Some 250 crop protection professionals heard about the fine points of protect the region's crops and economy at North Dakota State University's annual "Wide World of Weeds" Jan. 20 in Fargo, N.D.
The program drew the largest audiences for such topics as Richard Zollinger's discussions of glyphosate formulations and adjuvants -- understanding what is in these materials.
New face
Among the new faces on the program was Greta Gramig, NDSU's new weed ecologist. Gramig has been on the staff since November. She received master's and doctor's degrees from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and her undergraduate degree at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Gramig says her goal as a weed ecologist is to use the concept of weed biology and ecology to understand a crop's weed complex and the interaction of the weed complex with environmental variables and weed management approaches.
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She is hoping to propose a project that would look at the effectiveness of a biocontrol agent -- the stem mining weevil, which infests Canada thistle.
"The state of North Dakota in 2004 released these insects over 100 sites across the state and in 2008 evaluated those sites and found that the efficacy of the control agent varied," she says.
"We want to conduct research to determine the reason behind that variation," Gramig says. "We'd also like to see if there are other control strategies, such as herbicide treatment or pathogens, could be applied in an integrated manner to increase the efficacy of the biocontrol weevil."
Gramig says she's also been making connections with potential collaborators and is working to understand issues important in North Dakota.
New development
Shane Friesen, an NDSU weed scientist, says there is a development in his native Canada that he thinks will take on new significance in the coming years.
He notes that Phoma macrostoma, a fungus, has been developed into a bio-herbicide by researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
"It's a fungus which seems to attack and kill some of the very important weeds we're worried about -- Canada thistle, dandelion in particular, and other aster weeds," he says. "It also has efficacy on mustards -- used to control volunteer canola, wild mustard and field pennycress."
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The control method is meant to be released in Canada this summer for turf applications. In perhaps another two years or more, it is hoped it will be approved as a crop protectant, assuming a positive outcome for safety data and other tests that aren't required for nonfood applications.
"In Canada, there is an issue where municipalities, city governments, where they are starting to ban herbicides on lawn weeds," Friesen says. "This might be an option. It's big in Canada in that sense. It's big for organic producers who don't use herbicides."
It is not considered an herbicide, so it may be usable in organics.
"You can assume that if it works well in Canada, it might be adopted here as soon as possible," Friesen says.
