2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? In cold northern regions of the United States the cropping season is short and errors in the timeliness of management operations are magnified compared to gentler climates. Consequently, producers need information that helps them optimize the extent and timing of management endeavors. Of primary concern to most producers in this vast region is effective, economically and environmentally acceptable crop production. Solutions to these problems primarily involve development of new crops and implementation of new management tools. These tools consist of new types of crops, new methods of treating crop seeds before planting, and new ways to manage crop pests. Three complimentary approaches are being pursued. (1) Phenological models are being devised for a wide array of crops and weeds. These will be inserted into existing and proposed management-oriented software. Clients have requested these models, which aid managers in planning early-season operations. (2) Planting strategies will be developed that help crops and farmers compensate for cold and wet soil conditions in spring. These developments will extend fieldwork days for managers. (3) Characteristics needed for sustainable production in short growing seasons will be determined through physiological and agronomic investigations of new (e.g., cuphea), alternative, and traditional crops. These results will enable better blueprinting of crops whose phenologies must fit within the timeframes of northern regions. Combined, the three approaches will provide clients with integrated information and resources that increase timeliness and reduce risk for crops grown in short-season environments. The research contributes National Program 305 - Crop Production and addresses goals I.A, I.B, I.C, and I.D as described in the National Program Action Plan ; and National Program 304 - Crop Protection & Quarantine and addresses goals 7, 8, 9, and 10; and. Specifically these are: NP305.I.A Models and Decision Aids -Models are to be developed for inclusion into existing and new software. Clients have requested most of the proposed models. NP305.I.B Integrated Pest Management - Tiers of management that are integrated, with the aid of results from Problem A, above, help diversify weed management and promote sustained crop production. NP305.I.C Sustainable Cropping Systems - Crops (new crops), nutrients, soils, weather, pests, and social needs interact to form complex systems that determine whether cropping systems are sustainable. NP305.I.D Economic Evaluation - Costs and risks associated with new practices may not always be apparent initially. Inclusion of an agricultural economist on our team aids in forecasting the socio-economic consequences of the proposed research. NP304.7 Weed Biology and Ecology - Understanding weed biology and ecology is critical for making timely weed management decisions, regardless of the nature of the control technique. NP304.8 Chemical Control of Weeds - This form of control remains the centerpiece of weed management, especially with GM crops. To ensure efficacy and minimize environmental concerns, it must be integrated with other goals in the program. NP304.9 Biological Control of Weeds - The efficacy of this benign form of weed management can be improved if integrated with Subcomponent A, primarily involving models and prediction of weed development. NP304.10 Weed Management Systems - No single form of management is effective over long time spans. Highly useful forms of management, such as glyphosate-tolerant technology, will have extended life spans only if weed management systems are diverse. Timeliness of management operations is a serious problem in all of agriculture, but especially so for producers and crop advisors in cold northern regions where the total frost free season may only be four months. At the start of this growing season, air and soil temperatures rise more rapidly than they do in more southerly regions. Thus, once plant growth begins, it accelerates at higher rates than comparable plants at lower latitudes. This means that management decisions in cold northern regions must be timely as well as accurate, as too little time exists to compensate for management errors and "rescue" treatments (e.g., re-spraying, replanting, etc.) often are not viable options. Research that helps improve timeliness will curtail yield and financial losses that often arise because of penalties imposed by climate and labor shortages in northern regions. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. Year 1 (FY 2003) 1. Collection of Canada thistle phenology data. 2. Data analyses of perennial weed phenology. 3. Establish tillage systems for emergence monitoring. 4. Wild oat analyses and model development 5. Conclude tropical weed analyses 6. Conclude cuphea irrigation data collection 7. Conclude cuphea latitude data collection. 8. Initiate G C study. 9. Initiate cuphea root study 10. Initiate cuphea screening for cold tolerance 11. Assemble canola, lupin, and medic germplasm and initiate screening Year 2 (FY 2004) 1. Analyze perennial weed phenology data 2. Retrieve, collect, & analyze crop emergence data 3. Conclude analyses of Canada thistle 4. Conclude analyses of wild oat 5. Write papers for tropical weeds 6. Data collection for polymer-coated crop seeds 7. Complete gene expression & enzyme experiments 8. Complete biochemical analyses 9. Analyze results of cuphea irrigation study 10. Analyze results of cuphea latitudinal study 11. Continue cuphea rotation study 12. Increase seed of superior canola, cuphea, lupin, and canola lines Year 3 (FY 2005) 1. Model perennial weed development 2. Collect and analyze crop emergence data 3. Publish papers on tropical weeds 4. Publish wild oat model 5. Release WeedEm software 6. Collect and analyze polymer-coated seed data 7. Analyze gene and enzyme data 8. Complete biochemical analyses 9. Write and publish cuphea irrigation study 10. Write and publish cuphea longitudinal study 11. Analyze results of cuphea root study 12. Continue cuphea rotation study 13. Continue cuphea soil preference study 14. Increase seed of superior lines of canola, cuphea, lupine, & medic 15. Demo productive capacity of best lines of canola, lupine, & medic Year 4 (FY 2006) 1. Field test perennial weed models 2. Write paper on perennial weeds 3. Field test crop emergence model 4. Write paper on polymer-coated seeds 5. Publish gene and enzyme results 6. Analyze results from cuphea rotation study 7. Write paper on cuphea root study 8. Demo plots of best canola, cuphea, lupin, and medic lines Year 5 (FY 2007) 1. Include perennial weeds in software 2. Include crop species in software 3. Publish results of polymer coated seeds 4. Write and publish G C results 5. Write and publish cuphea rotation study 6. Demo plots of best canola, cuphea, lupin, and medic lines 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? Title: On-Farm Production of Cuphea, A New Oilseed Crop Accomplishment: Cuphea was harvested successfully in 2004 from about 50 acres on six farms and planted on more than 100 acres on ten farms in 2005. The problem addressed by this accomplishment involved whether the agronomic information derived from small research plots since 1999 could be transferred successfully to farmers' fields. CRIS team members from the North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory developed a cuphea production guide that allowed growers to successfully produce and harvest cuphea seed. This was accomplished in conjunction with a specialty seed company, a large international company, and the USDA-ARS National Agricultural Utilization Research Center. The impact of this accomplishment was the recognition by growers, a seed company, and a specialty oil company that cuphea can be produced effectively on farms in Minnesota. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. Title: Improved Emergence Models Accomplishment: Emergence modeling activities for weeds and crops were invigorated through a successful $400,000 grant from NRI and the associated recruitment of a post-doctoral research associate. The problem addressed by this accomplishment centers on the need to better time (a) the application of herbicides for chemical weed control or (b) the use mechanical implements for non-chemical weed control, for which the efficacies of both are largely dependent upon the time of crop and weed emergence. Members of the CRIS team developed submodels that simulate (a) seed redistribution in soil by any of a diverse assemblage of tillage implements and (b) solar radiation at sites that lack direct measurements, as radiation is a key variable for estimating soil temperature and soil water content. The impact of this accomplishment is that it provides appreciable impetus for completing CRIS milestones with greater speed and rigor than previously anticipated. Benefactors include not only other scientists, but growers, crop advisors, extension personnel and the agrichemical industry. Benefit accrues through more timely implementation of weed management activities, which improves weed control and reduces costs and labor. 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. Small farms: Results from a preliminary emergence model were used to aid a small farmer make timely herbicide applications in U-Pick strawberry. Applications successfully controlled a heretofore intractable weed, common groundsel. Excellent control of this weed permitted easier access to fruit by customers and avoidance of an additional herbicide at the time of field renovation. African farmers: Other emergence models were developed and published. These models were targeted to aid subsistence farmers in sub Saharan Africa. 4d.Progress report. USDA-CSREES-NRI supported a $400,000 proposal to develop improved weed emergence models. The subordinate project will develop and integrate submodels of depth distributions in soil of seed placement (via tillage), soil burial tolerances of differing species, soil temperatures, and soil water potentials. The subordinate project coincides closely with this parent project (3645-21220-003-00D) in that a major thrust of the larger project was development of crop and weed emergence models. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. (a) Identification, agronomic understanding, and establishment of cuphea as a viable alternative oilseed crop that can be grown and managed in Midwestern states. Action Plan components: NP305.I.C Sustainable Cropping Systems - Crops (new crops), etc. The Cuphea Consortium now includes a seed company, a specialty oil company, a major manufacture, a major commodity company, three universities (Univ. of Georgia, Western Illinois Univ., and North Dakota State Univ.), and three ARS labs (Ames, Morris, and Peoria). (b) Development of basic model routines and subroutines for software such as WeedCast and WheatScout. Action Plan components: NP305.I.A Models and Decision Aids and NP304.7 Weed Biology and Ecology. Models are being used by growers, agrichemical industry, extension, and university classroom instructors, both in the USA and abroad. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? General: Cuphea agronomy already is being used by farmers, seed companies, and industry. Emergence models already are used by crop advisors, extension educators, and university lecturers. Use of both technologies will increase as information, knowledge, and predictive abilities increase. Temperature-activated polymer seed coating for corn is being used by farmers, seed companies and industry. Constraints involve hesitation by farmers and agricultural and the chemical industry to accept new technologies and better appreciate risk. Specific: Research on Cuphea production was presented at a field day held in Watertown, SD. Update of cuphea research results from 2004 was presented to research collaborators and stakeholders at the annual "Cuphea Consortium" meeting at the University of Georgia. Conducted an education/consultation session with local area farmers interested in growing cuphea commercially. Guest lecture on weed modeling for NDSU course in weed ecology. Invited presentation on the use of WheatScout was made at the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Till Farmer's Association Meeting. Emergence modeling team met with IT team from a billion-dollar per annum company that distributes agricultural products and information to provide information on how the company can improve the commercial delivery of weed management information using ARS-derived models. Emergence modeling team met with team from the University of Wisconsin to discuss and implement an improved web-based and interactive version of weed emergence models that incorporate automatic daily downloads of site-specific microclimate data. The ARS team transferred ARS-developed software and code to the UW team. Emergence modeling team met with NC-202 Regional Research Committee to discuss application of weed emergence models and risk to weed management decision support systems. ARS team transferred concepts and software to the committee. Team members were associate editors or guest editors during 2005 for journals such as Weed Science, Weed Research, and Waste Management, and reviewed papers for many other journals. ARS team transferred scientific knowledge and expertise to aid journal in selecting only the best manuscripts to be published. Team members served on NRI panel and reviewed proposals for other agencies. ARS team transferred scientific knowledge and expertise to aid granting agencies in selecting only the best proposals to be funded. Team was requested and funded by USFWS and USGS to help determine infestation levels of weed seed in regional long-term test sites for control of invasive weeds. Team transferred knowledge, expertise, and data to USGS and USFWS to provide baseline data for large studies on invasive weeds. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). Beyond Corn and Soybean. 2005. USDA-ARS-NCSCRL Field Day Brochure. August 18, 2005. Review Publications Olness, A.E., Gesch, R.W., Forcella, F., Archer, D.W., Rinke, J.L. 2005. Importance of vanadium and nutrient ionic ratios on the development of hydroponically grown cuphea. Industrial Crops and Products. 21:165-171. Jaradat, A.A., Shahid, M., Al-Maskri, A.Y. 2005. Biomass production potential in the Batini barley landrace from Oman. Journal of Food, Agriculture, and the Environment. 3(2):249-253. Gesch, R.W., Cermak, S.C., Isbell, T., Forcella, F. 2005. Seed yield and oil content of cuphea as affected by harvest date. Agronomy Journal. 97:817-822. Gesch, R.W., Forcella, F., Olness, A.E. 2004. Cuphea grower's guide. In: Cuphea Production Contract 2004. Technology Crops International. p. 5-8. Ekeleme, F., Forcella, F., Archer, D.W., Chikoye, D., Akobundu, I.O. 2004. Simulation of shoot emergence pattern of cogongrass (Imperata Cylindrica) in the humid tropics. Weed Science. 52:961-967. Ekeleme, F., Forcella, F., Archer, D.W., Akobundu, I.O., Chikoye, D. 2005. Seedling emergence model for tropic ageratum (Ageratum conyzoides). Weed Science. 53:55-61. Sharratt, B.S., Gesch, R.W. 2004. Water use and root length density of cuphea influenced by row spacing and sowing date. Agronomy Journal. 96:1475-1480. Clay, S., Kleinjan, J., Clay, D.E., Forcella, F., Batchelor, W. 2005. Growth and fecundity of several weed species in corn and soybean. Agronomy Journal. 97:294-302. Gesch, R.W., Sharratt, B.S., Cermak, S.C. 2004. Cuphea seed yield, but not seed oil content is reduced by drought [abstract]. Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops. p. 38. Jaradat, A.A. 2004. Genetic divergence in a meta-population of the Hourani durum wheat landrace [CD-ROM]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Madison, Wisconsin. Johnson, J.M., Jaradat, A.A., Barbour, N.W., Vankempen, S.J. 2004. Inter- and intra-specific variation for lignin content in roots of annual medicago spp. [CD-ROM] ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Madison, Wisconsin. Gesch, R.W., Cermak, S.C., Isbell, T., Forcella, F. 2004. Cuphea seed and oil yield response to harvest date [CD-ROM]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Madison, Wisconsin. Jaradat, A.A., Olness, A.E., Gesch, R.W., Rinke, J.L., VanKempen, S.J. 2004. Comparative assessment of wild and semi-domesticated cuphea spp. [CD-ROM] ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Madison, Wisconsin. Johnson, J.M. 2004. Soil microbial communities and early season corn growth [abstract]. Indiana Certified Crop Adviser Program. 2004 CDROM. Johnson, J.M. 2004. Soil microbial communities and early season corn growth. In: Vyn, T.J., editor. Proceedings of the Indiana Certified Crop Adviser Program, December 14-15, 2004, Indianapolis, Indiana. 2004 CDROM. Anderson, J.V., Gesch, R.W., Chao, W.S., Horvath, D.P. 2004. A comprehensive review of dormancy status in leafy spurge crown buds in response to real world environmental and physiological cues. [Abstract]. 3rd International Symposium on Plant Dormancy. P. 5. Uscanga-Mortera, E., Forcella, F., Clay, S., Gunsolus, J. 2004. Emergence date affects growth and fecundity of redroot pigweed. [abstract]. Seventh International Conference on Precision Agriculture Conference Abstracts. p. 206. Eyherabide, J.J., Peterson, D.H., Forcella, F. 2004. Solaria provide preplant information on weed densities, distributions and management. In: Proceedings of the North Central Weed Science Society, December 13-16, 2004, Columbus, Ohio. 2005 CDROM. Anderson, J.V., Chao, W.S., Horvath, D.P., Jia, Y., Gesch, R.W. 2005. Environmentally-induced shifts in sugar metabolism may affect dormancy status in underground adventitious buds of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) [Abstract]. Weed Science Society of America. Page No. 121. Ellsbury, M.M., Banken, K.R., Clay, S.A., Forcella, F. 2005. Interactions among western corn rootworm (coleoptera: chrysomelidae), yellow foxtail, and corn. Environmental Entomology, 34(3): 627-634. Papiernik, S.K., Grieve, C.M., Lesch, S.M., Yates, S.R. 2005. Effects of salinity, imazethapyr, and chlorimuron application on soybean growth and yield. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 36:951-967.