2006 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? Why 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 complementary 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 to 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. Specifically these goals are: NP305.I.A Models and Decision Aids; NP305.I.B Integrated Pest Management; NP305.I.C Sustainable Cropping Systems; NP305.I.D Economic Evaluation; NP304.7 Weed Biology; NP304.8 Chemical Control of Weeds; NP304.9 Biological Control of Weeds; and NP304.10 Weed Management Systems. 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 by year the currently approved milestones (indicators of research progress) Year 1 (FY 2004) 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 2005) 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 2006) 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 2007) 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 2008) 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.List the single most significant research accomplishment during FY 2006. On-Farm Production of Cuphea, A New Oilseed Crop Addresses NP 305, Crop Production; Component IC, Sustainable Cropping Systems. Cuphea was harvested successfully in 2005 from about 100 acres on several farms and planted on about 500 acres on many farms in 2006. 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. Team members from the North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory developed a cuphea production guide and established relationships with a specialty oilseed company that allowed growers to successfully produce and harvest cuphea seed. This was accomplished in conjunction with the specialty oilseed company, Technology Crops International; as well as a specialty oil (cosmetics) company, FloraTech; the USDA-ARS National Agricultural Utilization Research Center; and North Dakota State University. 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 and North and South Dakota. 4b.List other significant research accomplishment(s), if any. Improved Microclimate and Emergence Models Addresses NP 305, Crop Production; Component IA, Models and Decision Aids. Through an NRI grant obtained in 2005 to work on new seedling emergence models, requirements arose to improve soil microclimate models. To meet this need, SolarCalc (estimation of total solar radiation based upon simple meteorological data) was developed and published, and other institutions quickly sought implementation and extension of this utilitarian program. Accordingly, two new projects were initiated: one with the University of Chicago, and another with Landfills+. Impact involves generation of appreciable interest and resources from unexpected entities. Beneficiaries include other scientists, growers, crop advisors, extension personnel and the agrichemical industry, plant growth chamber manufacturers, and waste (landfill) management companies. 4c.List significant activities that support special target populations. Small farms: At the request of two U-Pick strawberry growers, we initiated two activities. First, a successful proposal was written to the North American Strawberry Growers Association for on-farm research. Second, new modeling initiative was undertaken for an especially troublesome weed in horticultural crops (white cockle). These activities resulted in excellent public relations opportunities for ARS. 4d.Progress report. Tribal / 1994 Colleges: (1) wrote grant proposal with Salish-Kootenai College personnel and submitted proposal to the USDA-CSREES-TCRGP. (2) Paid recruitment visit to Fond du Lac College, wherein met and discussed recruitment issues with president of college and other administrators and faculty. 5.Describe the major accomplishments to date and their predicted or actual impact. 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). On-farm cuphea acreage rose from 50 acres in 2004 to 100 acres in 2005 to 600 acres in 2006. Farms growing cuphea were distributed in MN, ND, and SD. 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 agronomic information is being used by increasing numbers of farmers on increasing acreage in MN, ND, and SD, as well as by seed companies and industry. Emergence models continue to be used by crop advisors, extension educators, and university lecturers, and new models have been developed through cooperation with Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, and the University of California. Use of both technologies will increase as information, knowledge, and predictive abilities increase. Results pertaining to temperature-activated polymer seed coating for corn is being used by farmers, seed companies and industry, and additional results for soybean may increase the use of this technology even further. Constraints involve hesitation by farmers and agricultural and the chemical industries to accept new technologies and better appreciate risk. Research on weed emergence was presented by invitation to the annual meeting of the Upper Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Growers (MFVGA) held in St Cloud, MN. Three updates of cuphea research results from 2005 were presented to research collaborators and stakeholders at the annual "Cuphea Consortium" meeting at the USDA-ARS Plant Introduction Station at Iowa State University. Emergence predictions and their value for making weed management decisions was highlighted for farmers from Kazakstan, Russia, and the Ukraine during a one-week extension workshop on no-till cropping systems in Dneipropetrosk, Ukraine. Team was requested and funded by United States Geological Survey 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 to provide baseline data for large studies on invasive weeds. For the development of new emergence models, the research team hosted the following: (a) PhD student from Ohio State University for one week and aided with his research on the development of giant ragweed emergence models, the results of which are now posted on the web for Ohio growers; (b) PhD student from the University of Minnesota for four days and aided with her research on the development of wild oat emergence and growth models, the results of which were published in a successful PhD thesis; and (c) visiting professor from the University of California for two weeks and aided with his research on the development of common groundsel emergence models, the results of which will aid horticultural growers nationwide. Lectured garden club on tree fruit production in the upper Midwest. Team advised visiting agronomists and farm owner from the Ukraine on the application of weed biology information to weed management decision-making. Presented WeedCast update to the annual Minnesota-Wisconsin Strawberry Growers update hosted by the MFVGA; Afton Apple Orchard, MN. SolarCalc radiation model downloaded by approximately 100 users as of July 2006. Provided soil moisture and temperature modeling output for N/C mineralization studies for the University of Florida. Team member invited and presented lecture on cuphea at the Home Grown Energy Conference, University of MN at Morris (2/28/06). Team member invited and presented research on cuphea at the Blue Earth River Basin Initiative's Annual Winter Producers Meeting in Fairmont, MN (3/27/06). Sent copies of the "Cuphea Grower's Guide" to State Departments of Agriculture in NC and GA. 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). Tillage Erosion Slashes Yield. Farm Journal, January 30, 2006. Available on the web at http://www.agweb.com/get_article.asp?src=&pageid=124632 Tillage erosion study hopes to harvest facts. AgriNews, June 22, 2006. Available on the web at http://webstar.agrinews.com/agrinews/185106770372689.bsp Coming soon in a corn rotation? Corn and Soybean Digest, January 1, 2006, by Liz Morrison. Promising crop. Farm Industry News, March 1, 2006, by Peg Zink. Cuphea as a third crop. The Farmer, Winter 2006, by Liz Morrison Giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) seedling emergence projections for 2006. OSU Department of Horticulture & Crop Science, Weed Ecology Laboratory, by Brian Schutte, Emilie Regnier, and Kent Harrison (http://agcrops.osu.edu/weeds/research/2006ragweedemergence.php) Review Publications Jaradat, A.A., Shahid, M.A. Patterns of phenotypic variation in a germplasm collection of Carthamus tinctorius L. from the Middle East. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 53:225-244. Boote, K.J., Allen Jr, L.H., Prasad, P.V., Baker, J.T., Gesch, R.W., Snyder, A.M., Pan, D., Thomas, J.M. 2005. Elevated temperature and CO2 impacts on pollination, reproductive growth, and yield of several globally important crops. Journal of Agricultural Meteorology of Japan. 60:469-474. Forcella, F., Amundson, G.B., Gesch, R.W., Papiernik, S.K., Davis, V.M., Phippen, W.B. 2005. Herbicides tolerated by cuphea (Cuphea viscosissima x lanceolata). Weed Technology. 19:861-865. Forcella, F., Gesch, R.W., Isbell, T. 2005. Seed yield, oil, and fatty acids of cuphea in the northwestern Corn Belt. Crop Science. 45:2195-2202. Jaradat, A.A. 2005. Evolution of Cuphea spp. during domestication [abstract]. XVII International Botanical Congress Abstracts. p. 496. Gesch, R.W., Archer, D.W. 2005. Influence of sowing date on emergence characteristics of maize seed coated with a temperature-activated polymer. Agronomy Journal. 97:1543-1550. Archer, D.W., Jaradat, A.A. 2005. Crop productivity and economics during the transition to alternative cropping systems in the northern Corn Belt [abstract][CD-ROM]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Nov. 6-10, 2005, Salt Lake City, UT. Gesch, R.W., Forcella, F. 2005. Photosynthesis and growth response of domesticated cuphea to temperature [abstract][CD-ROM]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Nov. 6-10, 2005, Salt Lake City, UT. Zhang, Y., Spokas, K.A., Wang, D. 2005. Degradation of methyl isothiocyanate and chloropicrin in forest nursery soils. Journal of Environmental Quality. 34:1566-1572. Spokas, K.A., Forcella, F., Peterson, D.H., Archer, D.W., Reicosky, D.C. 2005. Seedchaser: Tillage model for vertical weed seed distribution [abstract][CD-ROM]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Nov. 6-10, 2005, Salt Lake City, UT. Forcella, F., Archer, D.W. 2005. Integrating continuous soil depth distributions of hydrothermal time, seeds, and burial tolerances to improve seedling emergence models [abstract]. Weed Science Society of America. 45:53. Berti, M., Johnson, B., Forcella, F., Gesch, R.W. 2005. Cuphea seed yield and oil content response to harvest methods [abstract][CD-ROM]. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting. Nov. 6-10, 2005, Salt Lake City, UT. Forcella, F. 2006. Honeybees as novel herbicide delivery systems [abstract]. Weed Science Society of America. p. 90. Bisikwa, J., Becker, R.L., Jordan, N.R., Biesboer, D.D., Katovich, S.A., Forcella, F. 2006. Effect of surface litter on seedling emergence and establishment of European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) [abstract]. Weed Science Society of America. p. 35. Bisikwa, J., Becker, R.L., Jordan, N.R., Biesboer, D.D., Katovich, S.A., Forcella, F. 2006. Effect of method and time of buckthorn management on seedling establishment and resprouting ability of established buckthorn saplings [abstract]. Weed Science Society of America. p. 52. Gesch, R.W., Forcella, F., Olness, A.E., Archer, D.W., Hebard, A. 2005. Agricultural management of cuphea and commercial production in the United States. In: Pascual-Villalobos, M.J. et al. editors. Proceedings of 2005 Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops. International Conference on Industrial Crops and Rural Development, September 17-21, 2005, Murcia, Spain. p. 749-757. Anderson, J.V., Gesch, R.W., Jia, Y., Chao, W.S., Horvath, D.P. 2005. Seasonal shifts in dormancy status, carbohydrate metabolism, and related gene expression in crown buds of leafy spurge. Plant, Cell and Environment. 28(12):1567-1578. Vu, J.C.V., Allen, L.H., Jr., Gesch, R.W. 2005. Elevated growth CO2 stimulates photosynthetic enzymes and sucrose metabolism in developing sugarcane leaves. In: van der Est, A., Bruce, D., editors. Photosynthesis: Fundamental Aspects to Global Perspectives. XIIIth International Congress of Photosynthesis Proceedings. pp. 966-968. Vu, J.C., Allen Jr, L.H., Gesch, R.W. 2006. Up-regulation of photosynthesis and sucrose metabolism enzymes in young expanding leaves of sugarcane under elevated growth CO2. Plant Science. 171:123-131. Chao, W.S., Serpe, M.D., Anderson, J.V., Gesch, R.W., Horvath, D.P. 2006. Sugars, hormones, and environment affect the dormancy status in underground adventitious buds of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula). Weed Science. 54(1):59-68. Spokas, K.A., Forcella, F., Peterson, D.H., Archer, D.W., Reicosky, D.C. 2005. Seedchaser: Tillage model for vertical weed seed distribution [abstract]. North Central Weed Science Society. 60:142. Clay, S., Banken, K., Forcella, F., Ellsbury, M.M., Clay, D.E., Olness, A.E. 2006. Influence of yellow foxtail on corn growth and yield. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 37:1421-1435. Spokas, K.A., Forcella, F. 2006. Estimating hourly incoming solar radiation from limited meteorological data. Weed Science. 54:182-189. Peterson, D.H., Spokas, K.A., Forcella, F., Reicosky, D.C., Wente, C.D. 2005. Seedling emergence of row crops and weeds across five tillage systems [abstract]. North Central Weed Science Society. 60:74. Davis, A.S., Cardina, J., Forcella, F., Johnson, G.A., Kegode, G., Lindquist, J., Luschei, E.C., Renner, K.A., Sprague, C.L., Williams, M. 2005. Environmental factors affecting seed persistence of 13 annual weeds across the U.S. corn belt. Weed Science. 53(6):860-868. Westerman, P., Liebman, M., Heggenstaller, A., Forcella, F. 2006. Integrating measurements of seed availability and removal to estimate weed seed losses due to predation. Weed Science. 54:566-574. Clay, S.A., Kreutner, B., Clay, D.E., Reese, C., Kleinjan, J., Forcella, F. 2006. Spatial distribution, temporal stability, and yield loss estimates for annual grasses and common ragweed (Ambrosia artimisiifolia) in a corn/soybean production field over nine years. Weed Science. 54:380-390. Jaradat, A.A., Shahid, M. 2006. Population and multilocus isozyme structures in a barley landrace. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization. 4(2):108-116. Kegode, G., Forcella, F. 2006. Tillage effect on reproductive output by foxtail cohorts in corn and soybean. Weed Science. 54:419-427. Spokas, K., Wang, D., Venterea, R.T., Sadowsky, M. 2006. Mechanisms of N2O production following chloropicrin fumigation. Applied Soil Ecology. 31:101-109.