Laura L. Van Eerd

Pesticide metabolism in plants and microorganisms

Abstract Understanding pesticide metabolism in plants and microorganisms is necessary for pesticide development, for safe and efficient use, as well as for developing pesticide bioremediation strategies for contaminated soil and water. Pesticide biotransformation may occur via multistep processes known as metabolism or cometabolism. Cometabolism is the biotransformation of an organic compound that is not used as an energy source or as a constitutive element of the organism. Individual reactions of degradation–detoxification pathways include oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, and conjugation. Metabolic pathway diversity depends on the chemical structure of the xenobiotic compound, the organism, environmental conditions, metabolic factors, and the regulating expression of these biochemical pathways. Knowledge of these enzymatic processes, especially concepts related to pesticide mechanism of action, resistance, selectivity, tolerance, and environmental fate, has advanced our understanding of pesticide science, and of plant and microbial biochemistry and physiology. There are some fundamental similarities and differences between plant and microbial pesticide metabolism. In this review, directed to researchers in weed science, we present concepts that were discussed at a symposium of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1999 and in the subsequent book Pesticide Biotransformation in Plants and Microorganism: Similarities and Divergences, edited by J. C. Hall, R. E. Hoagland, and R. M. Zablotowicz, and published by Oxford University Press, 2001. Nomenclature: American Chemical Society; fenchlorazole-ethyl; glutathione; glutathione-S-transferase; naphthalic anhydride; polyaromatic hydrocarbons; polychlorinated biphenyls; reductive dehalogenation; trichloroethylene.

Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen

Van Eerd, L. L., Congreves, K. A., Hayes, A., Verhallen, A. and Hooker, D. C. 2014. Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 303-315. Long-term studies allow for quantification of the effects of crop production practices, such as tillage and crop rotation, on soil quality and soil C and N stores. In two experiments at Ridgetown, ON, we evaluated the long-term (11 and 15 yr) effect of tillage system and crop rotation on soil quality via the Cornell Soil Health Assessment (CSHA) at 0-15 cm and soil organic C (SOC) and total N at 5-, 10-, and 20-cm increments to 120 cm depth. The CSHA soil quality score and SOC and total N were higher with no-till (NT) than fall moldboard plough with spring cultivation (conventional tillage, CT) and rotations with winter wheat [soybean-winter wheat (S-W) and soybean-winter wheat-corn (S-W-C)] compared with rotations without winter wheat. In both long-term trials, NT had ca. 21 Mg ha-1 more or 14% higher SOC than CT in the 0- to 100-cm soil profile, a trend which contrasts previous research in eastern Canada. Thus, the two long-term trial results at Ridgetown suggest that to improve soil quality and storage of C and N, growers on clay loam soil in southwestern Ontario should consider adopting NT production practices and including winter wheat in the rotation.

Weed Populations, Sweet Corn Yield, and Economics Following Fall Cover Crops

Abstract The effectiveness of cover crops as an alternative weed control strategy should be assessed as the demand for food and fiber grown under sustainable agricultural practices increases. This study assessed the effect of fall cover crops on weed populations in the fall and spring prior to sweet corn planting and during sweet corn growth. The experiment was a split-plot design in a pea cover–cover crop–sweet corn rotation with fall cover crop type as the main plot factor and presence or absence of weeds in the sweet corn as the split-plot factor. The cover crop treatments were a control with no cover crop (no-cover), oat, cereal rye (rye), oilseed radish (OSR), and oilseed radish with rye (OSR+rye). In the fall, at Ridgetown, weed biomass in the OSR treatments was 29 and 59 g m−2 lower than in the no-cover and the cereal treatments, respectively. In the spring, OSR+rye and rye reduced weed biomass, density, and richness below the levels observed in the control at Bothwell. At Ridgetown in the spring, cover crops had no effect on weed populations. During the sweet corn season, weed populations and sweet corn yields were generally unaffected by the cover crops, provided OSR did not set viable seed. All cover crop treatments were as profitable as or more profitable than the no-cover treatment. At Bothwell profit margins were highest for oat at almost Can

Weed Control, Environmental Impact, and Economics of Weed Management Strategies in Glyphosate-Resistant Soybean

600 ha−1 higher than the no-cover treatment. At Ridgetown, compared with the no-cover treatment, OSR and OSR+rye profit margins were between Can

A Comparison of Reduced Rate and Economic Threshold Approaches to Weed Management in a Corn–Soybean Rotation

1,250 and Can

Soil organic carbon and land use: Processes and potential in Ontario's long-term agro-ecosystem research sites

1,350 ha−1 and between Can

Winter cover crops on processing tomato yield, quality, pest pressure, nitrogen availability, and profit margins

682 and Can

Winter wheat straw management on subsequent processing tomato yield, quality, economics and nitrogen dynamics

835 ha−1, respectively. Therefore, provided that OSR does not set viable seed, the cover crops tested are feasible and profitable options to include in sweet corn production and provide weed-suppression benefits. Nomenclature: Cereal rye, Secale cereale L.; oat, Avena sativa L.; oilseed radish, Raphanus sativus L. var. oleoferus Metzg. Stokes; pea, Pisum sativum L.; sweet corn, Zea mays L.

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) storage quality in large outdoor piles is impacted by pile management but not by nitrogen fertilizer or cultivar

Abstract With the number of glyphosate-resistant weed species increasing in North America and a lack of new herbicide chemistries being developed, growers are shifting toward using older herbicides that are more expensive and may be less environmentally friendly. Therefore, to determine which weed management strategies are most cost effective and have the lowest impact on the environment we evaluated the efficacy, environmental impact, and the profitability of several weed management strategies in glyphosate-resistant soybean over a 3-yr period (2007 to 2009) at three locations in southwestern Ontario, Canada. No visible injury to soybean was observed with the herbicide treatments evaluated. A sequential application of glyphosate consistently provided high levels of weed control (99 to 100%) at 56 d after treatment in comparison with one- or two-pass herbicide programs. Soybean yield did not differ between the two-pass herbicide programs and glyphosate applied early POST; however, a yield benefit was found with a sequential application of glyphosate or a PRE herbicide followed by glyphosate compared with glyphosate applied only at late POST. The two-pass herbicide programs had higher environmental impact (EI) (> 23) than the one-pass herbicide programs (< 15), except when imazethapyr was followed by or tank-mixed with glyphosate, which had an equivalent EI (∼ 14) to the one-pass herbicide programs. Not surprisingly because of the low purchase price of glyphosate, gross margins were highest for treatments that included glyphosate. However, to reduce the selection pressure on glyphosate-resistant weed biotypes, to reduce environmental impact, and to increase gross margins a combination of glyphosate with another mode of action would be most beneficial. In this study glyphosate + imazethapyr was the best alternative to a sequential two-pass glyphosate program. Nomenclature: Flumetsulam; glyphosate; imazethapyr; s-metolachlor; soybean, Glycine max L.; common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. CHEAL; common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. AMBEL; green foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. SETVI; redroot pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus L. AMARE; velvetleaf, Abutilon theophrasti Medic. ABUTH.

Effect of reduced herbicide rates on weed control, environmental impact and profitability of corn.

A field study was conducted at two sites in southwestern Ontario, Canada, from 2002 to 2005 to assess the cumulative effects of different weed management strategies applied to the same plots over time in a corn–soybean rotation. These strategies included a POST broad-spectrum herbicide applied at recommended or reduced rates and use of a computer decision aid to select the POST herbicide having the greatest net return (economic threshold approach) based on weed populations before treatment or seed-bank estimates. Four years after study initiation, increased weed populations were observed only in the nontreated control. The reduced rate and economic threshold approaches did not lead to increased weed seed banks compared with the recommended rate of a broad-spectrum herbicide. Reductions in herbicide rate were more effective than the use of economic thresholds for reducing the risk of environmental impact in corn and soybeans. Weed populations in this study were generally above threshold levels, and herbicides selected by the computer decision aid tended to be older, less-expensive herbicides with high use rates. Recommendations by the computer decision aid were generally more effective and more profitable when based on weed populations before treatment than when based on seed-bank estimates. Nomenclature: Corn, Zea mays L, soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr