sustainable small farming and ranching sustainable weed management strategies
TRANSCRIPT
Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching
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.”
Photo by S. Kopan 2006
Tools for Control Exclusion: Don’t bring weed
seeds onto the farm
Nutrients brought onto the farm Raw manure will have seeds
Mulches Don’t use hay Straw is better
Tools for Control
Instead of manure -- Use compost! Turn the pile often to get the temp even
throughout and kill seeds Be careful of source material
What can I compost?
Animal manuresStraw, hayVegetable matterYard debrisWood shaving/chipsNewspaperFruit 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
Organic Production Compost with plant materials
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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.
Uses of cover crops and living mulches to control weeds
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Uses of cover crops and living mulches to control weeds
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Transplants
Give 4+ week jump on weedsPlant 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
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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
Solarizing the soil
Cultivate soil
Irrigate soil completely
Put plastic over the soilWeed get cooked
Soil gets up to 120 degrees F
Solarizing the soil (cont.) Bacteria fungi die and release
nutrients
Cooler climates two layers of plastic Have PVC between layers – create dead
air space
Needs to be on for at least 30 days during the heat of the summer
Weed control with herbivores
Rangeland or extensive pasture land
Large populations distributed (often dropped by airplane)
Takes time…
MS clipart photo
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
Hand Tools
Photos provided by D. Muehleisen
Weed Badger
Photos provided by D. Muehleisen
Flamer
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Flamers
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Flamers
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Steamers
Lely Tine Weeder
Specially suitable for Specially suitable for weeds with weeds with underground rhizomesunderground rhizomes Bring rhizomes to Bring rhizomes to surface and causes surface and causes them to desiccate them to desiccate Timing is criticalTiming is critical Click on image to start video
Hay Rake Weeder
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Bush hog
Rotary mower Cutting cover
crop Mowing weeds
before setting seeds
Photos provided by D. Muehleisen
Undercutter
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Basket WeederBudghing Corp
Photos provided by D. Muehleisen
Photo provided by D. Muehleisen
Wiggle Weeder
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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)
Credits
Presentation developed by Cultivating Success
TM: Sustainable Small Farms Education. Photos provided by Cultivating Success team, unless otherwise noted.
Video segments taken from:“Weed ‘Em and Reap, Part 1: Tools for Non-Chemical Weed
Management in Vegetable Cropping Systems.” Produced by Alex Stone, Oregon State University, Department of Horticulture. Copywrite 2005, Oregon State University.
“Weed ‘Em and Reap, Part 2: Reduced Tillage Strategies for Vegetable Cropping Systems.” Produced by Alex Stone, Oregon State University, Department of Horticulture. Copywrite 2005, Oregon State University.