- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
- Author: Rachel Long
- Author: Mariano Galla
- Author: Thomas Getts
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The old saying, “Everything's fine until it's not,” comes to mind when dealing with some tough to control perennial weeds in alfalfa production during the summertime. Such was the case for an alfalfa field in the Sacramento Valley, where weed control seemed good up until mid-summer, and then it wasn't. Perennial weeds that started off small and overlooked, grew through the season, persisting through multiple cuttings, including curly dock, plantain, and nutsedge. For tough to control weeds in alfalfa fields, one needs to determine: 1) What types of perennial weeds are present, and 2) How many of them are there, to make a decision on how to manage them. These sorts of weed issues can creep up quickly in older alfalfa...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Glyphosate was commercialized in 1974. Since then, it has become one of the most widely used and studied herbicides. According to Duke (2018b), almost 20,000 scientific publications and patents have included glyphosate as a focus; only 2,4-D surpasses it with respect to citations. The articles in the 5th issue of the 74th volume of Pest Management Science are no different; they all focus on this important (and controversial) molecule.This special issue arose from a day long symposium organized by Stephen O. Duke (University of Mississippi) and Keith Solomon (University of Guelph) that was held at the 252nd annual meeting of the American Chemical Society (Duke 2018a).
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
The United States Geological Survey (https://www.usgs.gov/) defines drought as a 'period of drier than normal conditions that results in water-related problems.' Short-term effects of drought include: declines in surface water flows, which can impact water supplies for agricultural, urban, and environmental uses. Long term effects of drought can include aquifer overdrafts and land subsidence. California has experienced drought events in the past (most recently: 1976-1977, 1986-1992, 2007-2009, and 2011-2017) and is expected to experience many more in the future. While a changing climate and variable weather patterns are contributing to the California's water issues, a lack of new water projects, a...
- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
There are several meetings featuring the research of UC ANR Staff coming up this month (August 2018). Directions to sites can be obtained through the UCCE Merced Agronomy and Weed Science Upcoming Events web page: http://ucanr.edu/sites/agronomyweedscience/Upcoming_Events/
1. West Side Pest Management Update
This meeting will cover a variety of topics including vegetable insect and disease management, the biology and ecology of field bindweed, and the management of field bindweed in agronomic and specialty...
/span>- Author: Lynn M. Sosnoskie
Cotton lint stickiness is a significant problem, worldwide. It is also an issue here in California, and a major focus of attention for cotton growers and ginners in the state. Sticky cotton loads can physically slow down the processing speeds of gins, even to the point of shut down. Stickiness may necessitate the special handling of contaminated bales, which can result in increased costs. The milling process can also be affected by stickiness, as work stoppages may be required to clean combs and rollers. Millers may choose to blend sticky fibers with clean ones as a way to mitigate the situation or they may elect to engage with different cotton merchants altogether in order to avoid persistent problems.
While free plant sugars...