1. Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching Sustainable Weed Management Strategies

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

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

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

7. 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

8. Organic Production Compost with plant materials Click on image to start video

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. Uses of cover crops and living mulches to control weeds Click on image to start video

13. Uses of cover crops and living mulches to control weeds Click on image to start video

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

15. Irrigation  Drip irrigation is more water efficient  Also by directing water to the crop it minimizes weed germination and reduces need to cultivate Click on image to start video

16. 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

17. Solarizing the soil  Cultivate soil  Irrigate soil completely  Put plastic over the soil Weed get cooked  Soil gets up to 120 degrees F

18. 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

19. Weed control with herbivores Rangeland or extensive pasture land Large populations distributed (often dropped by airplane) Takes time… MS clipart photo

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

21. Hand Tools Photos provided by D. Muehleisen

22. Hand Tools Photos provided by D. Muehleisen

23. Weed Badger Photos provided by D. Muehleisen

24. Flamer Click on image to start video

25. Flamers Click on image to start video

26. Flamers Click on image to start video

27. Steamers

28. Lely Tine Weeder  Specially suitable for weeds with underground rhizomes  Bring rhizomes to surface and causes them to desiccate  Timing is critical Click on image to start video

29. Hay Rake Weeder Click on image to start video

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

31. Undercutter Click on image to start video

32. Basket Weeder Budghing Corp Photos provided by D. Muehleisen

33. Photo provided by D. Muehleisen

34. Wiggle Weeder Click on image to start video

35. 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)

36. 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.