Farmers must suppress weeds, regardless
of whether they use organic, sustainable, or conventional approaches to
agriculture. Herbicides are not acceptable for the organic approach
and are used only minimally in sustainable farming. However, conventional
farmers also are motivated to reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides
both to control costs as well as to protect the environment. So,
regardless of their philosophy of farming, all farmers need effective and
efficient alternatives to the use of herbicides for weed control.
In a project sponsored by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
(AURI), the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota (SFA) explored
several approaches to herbicide reduction or elimination. The project
was led by farmers in partnership with extension educators, crop consultants,
and equipment dealers. The potential economic impact of the project
is estimated at a third of a million dollars per year. These pages
describe
the project and the alternative approaches demonstrated. Information
is also provided for contacting persons involved in the project.
Four alternative approaches to herbicide reduction were demonstrated
in the project.
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The approach of Jaime DeRosier focused on the use of allelopathic
cover crops to suppress germination of weed seeds and shade out the
weeds that manage to germinate.
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Jean Peterson and Al Sterner demonstrated the effectiveness of flame
weeding to reduce manual tillage in a vegetable operation.
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Carmen Fernholz showed how mechanical tillage
enabled him to manage weeds in his organic fields.
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Dale Katterhagen was able to control his weeds while reducing his costs
by using lower levels of herbicide than recommended
by the manufacturer.
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