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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
Fringed sagebrush is a native, drought-resistant, increaser species in Saskatchewan pastures and rangelands. Conventional control by cultivating and reseeding is neither highly effective nor sustainable. Two field experiments were conducted in 1988 and 1989 through 1991 to develop a management plan for fringed sagebrush. Comparison of fringed sagebrush control using various applications of clopyralid, dicamba, dichlorprop, fluroxypyr, picloram, triclopyr and 2,4-D, showed control was sufficient using the low-cost herbicide 2,4-D isooctyl ester at 1.5 kg ai/ha. Total yield of crested wheatgrass plus smooth brome was compared and the plots subjected to two applications of 2,4-D yielded the greatest accumulation of grass over the length of the experiments. The economic threshold of fringed sagebrush is the density at which yield is reduced by approximately 290 kg/ha; above this density it is economically viable to use 2,4-D at 1.5 kg/ha to control fringed sagebrush. Grazing practices can aid greatly in management of fringed sagebrush by allowing the forage to out-compete fringed sagebrush.