Research

Current Research

Pacific Northwest Herbicide Resistance Initiative (PNWHRI) 

The goal of the PNWHRI is to create a coordinated, interdisciplinary, systems-based approach to managing herbicide resistance in weeds that is regional in scope and long-term in impact. This initiative is a partnership among three land grant universities (University of Idaho, Oregon State University, and Washington State University) and three regional USDA-ARS units. The PNWHRI is supported by the Idaho Wheat Commission, Idaho Grain Producers Association, Idaho Barley Commission, Oregon Wheat Commission, Oregon Wheat Growers League, Washington Grain Commission 

Washington Association of Wheat Growers, and Far West Agribusiness Association.

Specific trials being conducted under the initiative include: 

  • Herbicide resistance surveys to document the extent of herbicide resistance in weeds commonly found in small grain production systems 
  • Evaluating germination temperature and moisture requirements of cheatgrass, Italian ryegrass and wild oat 
  • Quantifying the amount of moisture required to activate preemergence herbicides for weed control in small grain production systems. 
  • Assessing the impact of management practices on weed seedbank in small grain production systems. 

Cover crops for weed suppression in Idaho crops 

  • Quantifying biomass production and weed suppression of fall-planted cover crops 
  • Interaction between cover crop biomass and herbicides for weed control in dry bean and sugar beet 

Using red and far-red light for weed seedbank management 

  • This project is evaluating red and far-red light to promote or inhibit weed seed germination both in the greenhouse and field situations. The long-term goal is to utilize light as a non-chemical and sustainable alternative to herbicides for managing weed seedbanks. 

Multigenerational Exposure of Spring Wheat to Weed Competition and the Role of Memory Response in Crop-Weed Interaction 

  • The goal of this project is to assess whether we could generate competitive spring wheat progeny by exposing them to multiple generations of high weed competition. The specific objectives are to understand how multigenerational weed exposure affect: 
    • phenotypic plasticity, 
    • gene expression,  
    • and DNA methylation, and histone modification plasticity in spring wheat.