Issue # 10, August 22, 2000

• Upcoming Plot Tours
• Fall Canada Thistle Control
• Wasp and Hornet Control
• Who Gets Grandma's Pie Plate?

Upcoming Plot Tours

NuSun Sunflower Field Day, Tuesday, August 29th, beginning at 8:30 am at the Carrington R/E Center located three and one half miles north of Carrington on Hwy 281.  This tour features yield trials and oleic levels of NuSun hybrids compared to traditional elite hybrids; demonstrations of different sunflower herbicides; confection sunflower hybrid demonstrations; NDSU and USDA research on herbicide resistant sunflowers, new seed treatments, insect scouting traps and blackbird trapping cages; and a refractometer demonstration as a tool for determining NuSun identity.

Barnes County Soybean Plot Tour, Tuesday, August 29th, beginning at 4:30 pm.  The location of the plots are at the Herman Wolke Farm located 4 miles north of Valley City  and one mile east and one half mile north.  There will be a supper at 6:00 pm sponsored by Northern Seed and AGP/Valley City.

Casselton Seed Farm Soybean Plot Tour, Wednesday, August 30th, beginning at 5:30 pm.  The tour will include a look at public varieties, research update and an evening meal.

Fall Canada Thistle Control
(Taken from Extension circular W-799 "Perennial  and Biennial Thistle Control")

    Canada thistle has become a major problem in CRP, pastures, hayland and cropland since the wet cycle begin in 1993.  Canada thistle principally reproduces by sending out shoots from lateral roots, and can readily regenerate from root fragments less than an inch in length. Canada thistle is a prolific seed-producer. A single plant can produce more than 5,000 seeds, which can remain viable in the soil for more than 20 years. Seed dispersal and human activities associated with crop production are the main methods of establishment in new 
areas. Canada thistle produces an abundance of seed carried by the wind with the aid of down attached to the seed. Some may remain in the seed heads and is distributed throughout the winter. 
    Mechanical Control:  Repeated mowing will reduce thistle infestations, especially if the plants are biennial. Mow whenever the plants are in the early bud growth stage to prevent seed-set. Several mowings a year are needed because plant populations vary in maturity. Mow as close to the surface as possible. If plants are cut above the terminal bud before the stems elongate, they likely will regrow. It is important to mow before the flowers start showing color because plants mowed after that will likely produce some viable seed.  Mowing for several years will reduce the root vitality of the perennial species and will prevent seed production, reducing the seed reserve. Mowing should be combined with a chemical control program for best results. Tillage is much more effective than mowing for perennial thistle control and will completely control biennial species. Rotation out of forage crops to annual crops will eliminate biennial thistle. Cultivate fields before the perennial species are 3 inches tall and repeat before regrowth reaches 3 inches tall until freeze-up. A second tillage option for Canada thistle is to continue cultivation only until the day length is less than 15 hours. The thistles will then regrow as rosettes only and will not bolt. Herbicides applied in mid to late fall to rosettes provide much better control than when applied to bolted plants. Perennial thistles are not easily controlled by tillage because new shoots can develop from root buds below the cultivation level. Cultivation depletes the energy reserves of the root system and eventually will control an established stand. Persistence and proper timing are important for control. 
Chemical Controls:  Canada thistle is the only thistle in North Dakota that has become a cropland pest. The best approach to Canada thistle control in cropland should include a herbicide treatment to suppress Canada thistle growth, minimize crop yield losses, and prepare the thistle for a fall post-harvest treatment. Fall-applied treatments provide the most effective long-term control.  The best herbicide to use will vary depending on crop rotation. However, the control program must be uninterrupted for two to three years if the infestation is to be reduced. 
    Herbicides that can be used for Canada thistle growing in small grains are MCPA, bromoxynil (Buctril), 2,4-D, dicamba (Banvel), clopyralid plus 2,4-D (Curtail), metsulfuron (Ally), tribenuron (Express), thifensulfuron plus tribenuron (Harmony Extra) and triasulfuron (Amber) (Table 1). Of these, clopyralid plus 2,4-D provides the best and most consistent control, but a single application will not provide long-term control. Glyphosate (Roundup), 2,4-D, dicamba, or combinations of these herbicides can be used for preharvest thistle control in wheat or as a postharvest treatment following any crop. High rates of dicamba should not be used in cropland to avoid herbicide carryover into the next cropping season. 
    Clopyralid (Stinger) provides good Canada thistle control in sugarbeet and corn (Table 1). Clopyralid may have a soil residual and peas, lentils, potatoes, and broadleaf crops grown for seed should not be seeded until 18 months after treatment. Most crops can be seeded 10.5 months after treatment, except dry beans, soybean, and sunflower should not be seeded for 18 months if soil organic matter is less than 2 percent and less than 15 inches of precipitation was received in the previous 12 months. 
    Canada thistle may be suppressed in corn with atrazine, bentazon (Basagran), dicamba, or 2,4-D amine (Table 1). Dicamba gives better control than 2,4-D with less risk of corn injury. 
    Canada thistle growing in soybean or dry bean can be suppressed with bentazon (Basagran) (Table 1). A second application is required 10 to 14 days after the first for satisfactory suppression. If Canada thistle has grown taller than the bean crop, glyphosate can be applied through a selective ropewick or roller-type applicator as a salvage treatment. 
    Glyphosate, clopyralid, 2,4-D, and dicamba or combinations of these herbicides provide effective perennial thistle control and good stand reduction when applied in the fall, prior to a killing frost and when soil moisture is good. Canada thistle should have 8 to 12 inches of new regrowth. 
    Dicamba or glyphosate provides greater stand reduction than 2,4-D. However, dicamba at lower rates can be mixed with 2,4-D, which may provide greater thistle control than 2,4-D alone and less risk of carryover from dicamba. 
    More cost-effective control may be possible combining glyphosate with 2,4D rather than applying glyphosate alone at high rates. Glyphosate is sold commercially in premix form with 2,4-D (Land-master BW) or dicamba (Fallow Master) and can be used for thistle suppression. Tillage should be delayed at least three days after herbicide application. 

Wasp and Hornet Control

    Questions continue to arise about wasps and hornets nesting around houses and yards.  The first thing to do is to locate the nest or nesting site.  Once this is located, purchase one or more cans of "Wasp and Hornet Killer".  This can be purchased at most hardware stores or garden centers.  These spray a stream of spray about ten feet.  This allows treatment of a nest from a safe distance.  Treatment of the nest should be done in the early evening when insect activity is reduced.  Locate the entrance hole and direct the stream of spray into this area until the can is empty.  This spray has a quick knockdown and the insects rarely exist the nest alive.  Monitor the nest the following day for any activity and retreat if necessary.

Who Gets Grandma's Pie Plate?

    Passing on personal possessions is a process that occurs for almost every person in every kind of family.  Across the generations, objects have meaning and carry history.  Since every family is different, the experiences they have when making decisions about who gets what and why, are so very different.  For many personal possessions it is not the item itself that carries the "value" but the memories attached to it that makes it invaluable.  
    Planning ahead for the dispersal of untitled property allows for more choices, opportunities for communication, and fewer misunderstandings and conflicts.  Teresa McElroy, Griggs/Steele Extension Agent, has a useful resource to instigate discussion for families transferring non-titled property.  This information can be provided as a program to groups or individuals.  There is a thirteen minute video available from NDSU for families to loan.  "Some families have shown this at holiday family gatherings.  This program helps families avoid bad feelings if communications and feelings can be expressed before personal property has to be disposed."  
    Some considerations BEFORE distributions of personal possessions might be:

• What seems fair to some family members will appear unfair to others.
• People you think of as family members may not be defined as family according to the law.
• Non-titled property refers to furniture, collections, photographs, toys, tools etc..
• Pets are non-titled property.
• Some person's 'junk' is another person's treasures.

    If you would like more information on this program, contact Teresa McElroy at the Griggs County Extension Office (701-797-3312) on Thursdays or at the Steele County Extension Office (701-534-2253) on Monday's or by E-mail tmcelroy@ndsuext.nodak.edu.  

Please Contact Our Office For Additional Information
E-mail: griggs@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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