Research was conducted to determine the effects of management practices and precipitation on herbicide loss in surface water runoff. A field runoff experiment was conducted in 1999 and 2000 in Manhattan, KS. Some plots received only natural precipitation, whereas others received natural precipitation plus additional precipitation from a rainfall simulator. Atrazine was applied at 0.9 and 1.8 kg ha−1, S-metolachlor at 0.7 and 1.4 kg ha−1, and isoxaflutole at 0.05 and 0.11 kg ha−1 to field corn grown under conventional tillage and no-till. Runoff volumes and herbicide concentrations were determined for each runoff event. Across all precipitation, tillage, and placement variables, atrazine, S-metolachlor, and isoxaflutole and diketonitrile (DKN) (soil metabolite of isoxaflutole), hereafter referred to as isoxaflutole/DKN, losses were similar at 5.0, 4.1, and 4.1% of applied, respectively. Additional precipitation increased runoff 2.5-, 2.2-, and 3.4-fold for atrazine, S-metolachlor, and isoxaflutole/DKN, respectively. Preplant soil incorporation reduced atrazine, S-metolachlor, and isoxaflutole/DKN losses in runoff by 67, 69, and 57%, respectively, compared with soil surface applications. Lower preplant rainfall in 2000 resulted in sharply reduced runoff losses despite postplant precipitation similar to that in 1999. These findings suggest that the best management practices for atrazine can be used to manage S-metolachlor and isoxaflutole/DKN loss in surface water runoff.
Nomenclature: Atrazine; S-metolachlor; isoxaflutole; diketonitrile metabolite of isoxaflutole (DKN); 2-cyano-3-cyclopropyl-1-(2-methylsulfonyl-4-trifluoromethylphenyl)propan-1,3-dione; corn, Zea mays L.
