Field experiments were conducted at Lacombe, Lethbridge, and Vegreville, Alberta, Canada and Kalispell, MO, over several years to determine the influence of recommended (minimum label) and lower-than-recommended tralkoxydim rates on wild oat seed production, spring wheat yield, and economic return. Wild oat seed production as a function of tralkoxydim rate varied considerably among locations and years. For example, at the recommended rate, wild oat seed production varied from none at both Lethbridge and Vegreville in 1994 to over 800 seeds/m2 at Vegreville in 1995. At 50% of recommended rate, seed production varied from none at Lethbridge in 1994 to over 3,000 seeds/m2 at Vegreville in 1995. In most cases, wheat yield response to tralkoxydim rate was curvilinear. Yields generally increased exponentially as rates increased up to about 40 or 50% of the recommended rate, but then plateaued as rates were increased further. In some cases economic returns tended to plateau or decrease at rates higher than this, but reductions in economic returns at the recommended herbicide rates were, in most cases, relatively slight. In contrast, at Lethbridge in 1993 and 1995 and at Kalispell in 1994 and 1996, yield and economic returns generally increased as herbicide rate increased, and there was an economic disadvantage to reducing the tralkoxydim rate below that recommended. In view of the variable effects on wild oat seed production, and the questionable economic benefit, our study suggests that reducing the rate of tralkoxydim below that recommended may not be without risk. Further studies are necessary to determine the long-term implications of returning relatively large amounts of wild oat seed to the soil seedbank at reduced herbicide rates.
Nomenclature: Tralkoxydim; wild oat, Avena fatua L. #3 AVEFA; wheat, Triticum aestivum L. ‘Hi-line’, ‘Katepwa’, ‘Newana’, ‘Roblin’.
Additional index words: Reduced herbicide rates.
