NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
March 30, 2000
Researchers from North Dakota State University will be conducting a comprehensive, two-year weed survey beginning this spring. A primary objective of the statewide survey is to document the population and distribution of weed species. NDSU conducted a similar study in 1978 and 1979.
"The upcoming survey also will help support North Dakota state pesticide registrations and provide information for conducting a herbicide-benefit analysis," says Richard Zollinger, extension weed specialist at NDSU and survey coordinator. Working with Zollinger on this project is Jerry Ries, an NDSU research associate in the plant sciences department.
About 2,000 North Dakota fields will be surveyed. The number of fields NDSU researchers will survey in each county will be based on the total number of tillable acres in that county. Zollinger and Ries will randomly select fields to survey. Only cropland will be part of the survey, not land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, pasture or hay land. Once they have selected specific fields, the surveyors will contact farmers and ask them to fill out a short questionnaire to determine cropping histories.
Weed species and densities will be recorded in 10 locations in each selected field. Zollinger says survey results will be published during the fall of 2001.
"Farmer cooperation will be key to the success of this survey," Zollinger says. "We need to get enough fields from around the state included so that we have a representative sample. The more fields, the more precise the survey."
The information derived from the weed survey will benefit farmers by increasing their base of knowledge for pest management, Zollinger says. Likewise, the information will help university plant scientists hone their research focus, and chemical companies will be able to use the information for registering products.
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Source: Richard Zollinger (701) 231-8157
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136