Research on Jointed Goatgrass In Idaho

Dr. Don Morishita, a weed scientist at the University of Idaho Twin Falls Research & Extension Center, has played an important role in providing valuable jointed goatgrass management information for producers in the intermountain states.  Over the past several years Dr. Morishita has cooperated with Dr. Jack Evans from Utah State University to evaluate the integrated management of jointed goatgrass.  This study contained two tillage systems and two crop rotations on jointed goatgrass management and was completed in the fall of 2001.

Currently, Morishita and Evans are working on a study to evaluate several individual cultural practice components in an integrated management program.  They are looking at crop rotation, herbicide resistant cultivars, and improved planting technologies to improve jointed goatgrass management and increase profit margins compared to traditional winter wheat-fallow production systems in the intermountain region.

Dr. Morishita has agreed to be in charge of the Intermountain Region BMP extension bulletin, expected to be published soon.  To find out more about the research conducted by Dr. Don Morishita please contact him at don@uidaho.edu or contact Doug Schmale, JGG Extension Coordinator. 

Dr. Bob Zemetra, Cereal Geneticist at the University of Idaho in Moscow, has provided the scientific community with valuable insight on the genetic relationship between jointed goatgrass and winter wheat.  He has been involved primarily in determining the potential for herbicide resistance transfer from wheat to jointed goatgrass.  This issue has been a concern with respect to the new Clearfield wheat technology.

Dr. Zemetra is currently working with Dr. Carol Mallory-Smith, a Weed Scientist from Oregon State University, on a project geared to determine the pollen parent of backcross plants from wheat-jointed goatgrass hybrids.  This project has utilized modern genetics technology to evaluate the potential of herbicide resistance genes to be transferred into jointed goatgrass in the field.  Results have been published in over five referred scientific journals and countless presentations.  This information is vital in examining the future effects of herbicide resistant wheat crops and the potential gene flow into a jointed goatgrass population.

To find out more about the research conducted by Dr. Bob Zemetra please contact him at rzemetra@uidaho.edu or contact Doug Schmale, JGG Extension Coordinator.