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Non-Herbicide Weed Management Decision Tools for New and Beginning Farmers

Meredith Melendez and Besancon Thierry

Summary

A preliminary survey was administered in spring 2018 (n=21) to New Jersey vegetable growers to gauge current weed management educational needs. 47% of the respondents reported that they are certified organic while 53% indicated that they are using organic practices. 65% had less than 10 years of production experience. 78% of respondents indicated they strongly agreed that additional weed management resources were needed for organic production systems, and 22% somewhat agreed with this statement. Pigweed, galinsoga, and yellow nutsedge were considered as the most difficult to control species for bare ground and plasticulture cropping systems whereas Canada thistle and large crabgrass were also listed as problematic for bare ground, high tunnels, and between rows. Respondents indicated that hand weeding and hand-held tools are the main methods of control. To assist this audience with their weed management five decision tools and companion videos were developed focusing on short- and long-term management plans for the control of specific weed species. Measures discussed included seed disruption, seedling disruption, occultation through tarping, mulching, equipment sanitation, rotational planting, weed whacking, mowing, and hand weeding. Resources were shared with growers through on-farm weed management workshops, webinars, blog posts, and through individual County Extension offices. 44% of participants have implemented at least one of the practices discussed and have noted reduced weed pressure as a result. 39% of the participants indicated they had not yet implemented one of the practices but intended to.

Details

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