08/28/07 More on the "black fingers of death" for cheatgrass seed

Farm and Ranch August 28, 2007 A fungal pathogen nicknamed the "black fingers of death" that kills dormant cheatgrass seed in the soil is being studied at Gonzaga University in Spokane. Two federal grants totaling more than 247-thousand dollars are funding a three-year study which Gonzaga Associate Professor Julie Beckstead says focuses on cheatgrass in rangeland. She says they know the fungus is present in rangeland and natural areas and can kill significant numbers of cheatgrass seeds. She doesn't know about cropland. Beckstead: "That would have to entail some research. I have not looked for this organism in crop fields. I would like to do so. Everywhere else I have looked, and I have looked in several areas that are right adjacent to farmers' fields and the organism is there." But if there is a natural cheatgrass seed killer out there, why is cheatgrass doing so well? Beckstead says it may be an evolutionary thing, the pathogen lives off the surplus so it always has seed available, but it is a question researchers want to answer. Beckstead: "It is almost like it is a thinning process. It kind of thins out the potential population source, but the number of seeds remaining can compensate." Another unanswered question is what other plants might the "black fingers of death" impact? Beckstead: "I did put it on wheat with some of my students. It did not kill the wheat. The wheat germinated too fast." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.