Chemical control of hair grass
Rough hair grass is a perennial bent grass commonly found in meadows, open woods and waste places throughout the prairie provinces.
It is not a major problem but has been a concern of alfalfa producers in northwestern Saskatchewan.
There are no chemicals registered for its control in alfalfa.
Roy Button, soils and crops agrologist with Saskatchewan Agriculture at Tisdale, got support from the Agriculture Development Fund to determine what chemicals would be effective.
“I tried the shotgun approach, using those chemicals with the most potential,” he said.
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A plot was established on a local producer’s field with a fairly consistent stand of rough hair grass. The experiment involved six treatments, a check and three replicates. The chemicals Assure, Poast, Select, Venture and two rates of Roundup were supplied by their manufacturers.
After spraying in June under favorable conditions, the plots were monitored throughout the season.
“The results showed that Assure and Venture can provide effective control of rough hair grass in seed alfalfa. Crop tolerance is adequate and both treatments cost $20 per acre,” Button said.
“Roundup at one-quarter litre per acre did not provide very effective control, but provided excellent control at one-half litre per acre.”
However, at that rate it also caused fairly extensive damage and delayed the alfalfa to the point where seed could not be obtained in the year of application. Select and Poast were not as effective for control of the grass.
He emphasizes his project was an experiment only. No chemicals are now registered for control of rough hair grass in alfalfa.
Button’s project, therefore, is just one of the first steps to be taken in the chemical control of rough hair grass.
– Saskatchewan Agriculture
New fracture treatment a winner
A horse that had one foot in the grave has stepped proudly into the winners’ circle thanks to a new screw used to repair fractures. Barney, who goes under the racing name Count Your Sheckles, successfully returned to racing and won at Woodbine racetrack in Toronto recently after a reoccurring fracture he had suffered was repaired with a bioabsorbable screw.
The technique is being pioneered by John Field, orthopaedic researcher at the Equine Research Centre in Guelph, Ont.
A bioabsorbable screw is an implant made of lactic acid that is absorbed by the body and excreted as water and carbon dioxide. A common method of fracture repair uses metal screws, but vibration from repeated use of the limb can cause these screws to become loose or to cause pain, at which point they must be removed. Removal presents the additional risk of life-threatening health complications when a horse is anesthetized, as well as more convalescence time while the hole created fills in with new bone. Bioabsorbable screws will reduce the need for repeated surgery to remove loosened screws. Holes created by the bioabsorbable screw fill as the implant is absorbed.
While Field’s work focuses primarily on horses, it has expanded to involve all species, including humans.
Researchers at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre in Toronto, the Swedish University Agricultural Science and the Karolinska Institute are helping with research. It is funded by the Mohill Farm Orthopaedic Research Initiative, with support from the E.P.Taylor Equine Research Fund and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
– Equine Research Centre
