Jul 26, 2011
Well, I survived my first turn as the chairperson for the annual UC Davis Weed Day and I thought it went very well. Perfect weather (80F in July in Yolo Co?) helped tremendously!
The 55th Annual Weed Day was held on July 14th, 2011 and we had one of the biggest turnouts in quite a while with just over 150 weed scientists, students, farmers, consultants, farmers, land managers, and regulators in attendance.
We started out the morning by loading up on three buses and visiting a series of field plots near Davis and at the research station.
1. My group had stop just off campus in an almond and walnut orchard where we discussed residual herbicide, burndown herbicides, and spray nozzles and coverage.
2. Rachel Brush (grad student) and Joe DiTomaso discussed the invasive weed, stinkwort (Dittrichia)
3. The stop at USDA-ARS Aquatic Weed Research Facility had two critical elements - donuts and restrooms! We also got to hear from Lars Anderson about the new lab facility and discuss research on invasive aquatic weeds.
4. Steve Fennimore discussed non-chemical approaches to reducing soil fumigation with methyl bromide. There was a lot of interest and discuss about the steam-injection auger and strawberry bed steaming projects.
5. Tom Lanini had three trials where he discussed herbicides for melons, fresh market tomato, and bindweed control in processing tomato.
6. We ended the field tour with a demonstration of herbicide symptomology (simulated drift) on annual crops - which is always interesting.
We returned to campus for a catered lunch and open discussion before starting up the afternoon session.
7. Ellen Dean went through a Weed ID quiz using an interactive system that was a little different than in previous years. It was interesting and informative and I think we'll consider that again.
8. Joe DiTomaso gave a quick update on an online weed science video project we are working on (the first two are here: http://wric.ucdavis.edu/education/online_programs.htm )
and I spoke briefly about this blog.
9. Rachel Brush (PhD student, DiTomaso lab) spoke about some of her graduate work on a weed risk assessment tool for the horticulture industry.
10. Marie Jasieniuk covered her lab's work on using molecular tools to study invasive weed origins and dispersal.
11. Joi Abit (postdoctoral researcher, Hanson lab) presented data on environmental degradation of simazine in two Central Valley vineyards.
12. John Roncoronni (UCCE Napa Co.) summarized three years worth of work on panicle willowherb control in vineyards.
13. Jayesh Samtani (postdoctoral researcher, Fennimore lab) discussed research on non-chemical approaches (mustard seed meal and anerobic disinfestation) for strawberry.
14. Rocio Alarcon-Reverte (postdoctoral researcher, Fischer lab) shared her data on glyphosate resistant junglerice.
15. Kassim Al-Khatib have an interesting comparison of the mechanisms of glyphosate-resistance versus mechanisms of resistance to other herbicides.
16. And last but not least, Specialist Guy Kyser gave a presentation on his work on controlling artichoke thistle in Sacramento rangelands.
I always enjoy Weed Day - it is a great way to learn about new research on weed biology and management and to meet old and new friends. An added bonus for those of us with applicator licenses includes the granted 5.5 hours of continuing education credits granted by the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
Before I pass the torch to the next Weed Day chairperson I have to acknowledge the efforts of the weed science students and staff, the plant sciences farm crew, and especially to Gale Perez who organizes the 10,000 details that go into an event like Weed Day. Also, this event was partially sponsored by BASF Corporation, Dow Agrosciences, Blankinship and Associates, Bayer CropScience, DuPont Crop Protection, FMC Corporatin, Marrone Bio Innovations, Monsanto, Syngenta Crop Protection, Target Specialty Crops, Agrichem Services, and the Tremont and Lyman Group.
I hope to see you next year at the 56th Annual UC Weed Day on July 19, 2012.
Thanks!
Brad
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