Sustainable Weed Management Strategies Know your Weeds ID

Sustainable Weed Management Strategies

Know your Weeds • ID your weeds in your field • Be sure you want to get rid of it • They do have a role: • Holding water • Creating organic matter • Providing cover • Habitat for beneficial insects “Weeds are plant we have not yet found a use for. ” “Weeds are any plant growing in a space intended for another. ”

Tools for Control • Don’t bring weed seeds onto the farm • Nutrients brought onto the farm • Raw manure will have seeds Instead of manure -- Use compost! Turn the pile often to get the temp even throughout and kill seeds • Be careful of source material • • Mulches • Don’t use hay • Straw is better

What can I compost? Animal manures Straw, hay Vegetable matter Yard debris Wood shaving/chips Newspaper Fruit and vegetable wastes

Organic Production Compost non-animal materials Plant residues, etc No specific composting regulations

Organic Production Compost with animal materials • Regulations for using compost that contains animal materials are more specific. • • • Required minimum temperatures Required turning times Required C: N ratio

Don’t let weeds go to seed! • Early cycle weed control • Is it worth continued harvesting from a field to justify continued weed management? • Hand weeding is expensive • $200 -$700/Ac

Cultivating • Expensive to control in row • Cultivate on both sides of row • Shallow tillage • Brings smallest amount weeds to the top • Planting techniques will help the crop out compete the weeds

Cover crop the year before Use cover crop for weed suppression • Shallow tillage • • Brings smallest amount weeds to the top Cover cropping with winter peas for organic dry land wheat production.

Transplants • Give 4+ week jump on weeds • Plant at the right planting density can give you weed free plots

Irrigation • Drip irrigation is more water efficient • Also by directing water to the crop it minimizes weed germination and reduces need to cultivate

Timing of Cultivation • Cultivate as soon as you can • Small weeds easier than big weeds to remove • Do not irrigate right after cultivation • Depth of cultivation • Depends on weed species

Equipment • A large part of controlling weeds is recruitment of the appropriate technology • The following is a short survey of the available equipment.

Hand Tools Photos provided by D. Muehleisen

Flamer

Lely Tine Weeder q Specially suitable for weeds with underground rhizomes q Bring rhizomes to surface and causes them to desiccate q Timing is critical

Bush hog • Rotary mower • Cutting cover crop • Mowing weeds before setting seeds Photos provided by D. Muehleisen

Summary Know your weed problems • Don’t introduce new weeds • Eliminate spread of existing weeds • Compete with them – cover crops, the main crop (spacing, timing, etc. ) • Use a variety of tools depending on situation (cultivators, flamers, hand tools) •

Reading and Assignment Reading for Next Week • • New Organic Grower - Chapter 24 Assignments • • Complete Pest Management and Weed Management in Whole Farm Plan Compile the elements of sections I, IV and V from the Whole Farm Plan Template. Bring in a hard copy for review next week