Kochia [<i>Bassia scoparia</i> (L.) A.J. Scott] is a summer-annual tumbleweed that is tolerant of heat, drought and salinity, and capable of causing large yield losses in spring wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L). Increased incidence of glyphosate and acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor-resistant kochia in Western Canada warrants investigation of alternative herbicides to manage these biotypes. Herbicides applied pre- or post-emergence in spring wheat were evaluated based on crop tolerance and control of ALS inhibitor-resistant kochia accessions with and without the glyphosate resistance trait in five environments near Lethbridge and Coalhurst, Alberta, from 2013-2015. The most effective and consistent treatments for kochia management included sulfentrazone applied pre-emergence, and fluroxypyr/bromoxynil/2,4-D or pyrasulfotole/bromoxynil applied post-emergence. All of these treatments resulted in ≥ 90% visible control in all environments and ≥ 90% kochia biomass reduction compared with the untreated control in Lethbridge 2014 and 2015. MCPA/dichlorprop-p/mecoprop-p, dicamba/2,4-D/mecoprop-p, and dicamba/fluroxypyr resulted in acceptable control among environments (≥ 80% visible control in all environments and ≥ 80% kochia biomass reduction in Lethbridge 2014 and 2015); however the latter two options caused unacceptable (> 10%) wheat visible injury in Coalhurst 2014. Recent confirmations of auxinic herbicide-resistant kochia in Western Canada – due, in part, to use of synthetic auxins to manage glyphosate-resistant kochia in small-grain cereals – will limit kochia management options. When implemented with non-chemical tools as part of an integrated weed management program, alternative herbicide modes of action like protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors before and photosystem II or 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase inhibitor(s) within spring wheat could mitigate selection for multiple herbicide-resistant kochia.

Glyphosate-resistant kochia [Bassia scoparia (L.) A.J. Scott], the first known glyphosate-resistant weed in western Canada, was confirmed initially in chemical fallow fields located in Warner County, Alberta in 2011. Further selection, lack of control, and rampant spread of this biotype contributed to its increased incidence, now present in about 50% of kochia populations sampled in Alberta. In 2014 and 2015, herbicide mixtures were evaluated based on control of glyphosate-resistant and susceptible kochia in chemical fallow fields near Lethbridge and Coalhurst, Alberta. The most consistent control (≥ 80% visual control in all environments with ≥ 80% biomass reduction in 2014) was observed with glyphosate + dicamba (450 + 580 g ae ha-1), glyphosate + dicamba/diflufenzopyr (450 + 150/50 g ai/ae ha-1), glyphosate + saflufenacil (450 + 50 g ai/ae ha-1), and glyphosate + carfentrazone + sulfentrazone (450 + 9 + 105 g ai/ae ha-1). Reduced efficacy was observed for several herbicide mixtures when they were applied to glyphosate-resistant compared with glyphosate-susceptible kochia accessions. Effective modes of action mixed with glyphosate include synthetic auxins (group 4), a combination of a synthetic auxin and an auxin transport inhibitor (group 19), or protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors (group 14). In response to glyphosate-resistant kochia, many farmers in this region shifted their herbicide programs resulting in greater reliance on synthetic auxins; likely contributing to the recent discovery of auxinic herbicide-resistant kochia biotypes in Alberta in 2017. Careful herbicide stewardship is warranted to mitigate further selection of multiple herbicide-resistant kochia, suggesting an important role for integrated weed management.

Kochia [Bassia scoparia (L.) A.J. Scott] is an invasive C4 tumbleweed in the Great Plains of North America, where it impedes crop harvest and causes significant crop yield losses. Rapid evolution and spread of glyphosate- and acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor-resistant kochia in western Canada limit the herbicide options available for control of these biotypes in field pea (Pisum sativum L.); one of the predominant pulse crops grown in this region. Field experiments were conducted near Lethbridge, Alberta in 2013-2015 and Coalhurst, Alberta in 2013-2014 to determine which herbicide options effectively control glyphosate- and ALS inhibitor-resistant kochia in field pea. Visible injury of field pea was minor (0-4%) in all environments except for Lethbridge 2013, where pre-plant (PP) flumioxazin and all treatments containing post-emergence (POST) imazamox/bentazon resulted in unacceptable (14-23%) pea visible injury. Herbicide impacts on pea yield were minor overall. Carfentrazone + sulfentrazone PP and saflufenacil PP followed by imazamox/bentazon POST resulted in ≥80% visible control of kochia in all environments, while POST imazamox/bentazon alone resulted in ≥80% reduction in kochia biomass in all environments compared with the untreated control (albeit absent of statistical difference in Coalhurst 2014). These results suggest that layering the protoporhyrinogen oxidase-inhibiting herbicides saflufenacil or carfentrazone + sulfentrazone PP with the ALS- and photosystem II-inhibiting herbicide combination imazamox/bentazon POST can effectively control glyphosate- and ALS inhibitor-resistant kochia in field pea while also mitigating further selection for herbicide resistance through the use of multiple effective herbicide modes-of-action.