Managing and controlling weeds can be a challenge and frustration for farmers, no matter the farm size or crop. Michigan State University (MSU) professor Daniel Brainard, knows that weed management represents a major barrier to the sustainable production of both field and vegetable crops and has been researching and demonstrating tools and techniques for physical weed control.
"Advances in material science and engineering have resulted in new tools and techniques for physical weed control that can help address these constraints and simultaneously improve profitability and environmental health in the North Central region," said Brainard.
Collaborating on Weed Control
Brainard's lab at MSU collaborates with a network of farmers and researchers to generate useful, farm-tested, and detailed observations on the best methods and tools for managing in-row weeds. The team has explored in-row, mechanical cultivation with torsion weeders, flex-tine cultivators, finger weeders, and disk hillers in crops such as squash, carrots, beans, and beets. With support from SARE, the group has consulted physical weed control experts in Europe, created videos of the various tools in action, and recorded interviews of farmers and manufacturers describing the tools. They have also hosted multiple Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Days, the nation’s largest event devoted to weeding tools.
“The consensus from both on-farm and research-farm trials was that the finger weeder and flex tine weeders are versatile tools that work well on a wide range of transplanted and large-seeded direct-seeded crops,” said Brainard. “Although the torsion weeder can also work extremely well under the right conditions, it is more difficult to calibrate and integrate into diverse farming systems, and works well under a narrower set of soil and environmental conditions.”
A Brainard lab alumnus and horticulture instructor at Lakeshore Technical College, Sam Hitchcock Tilton, said often the greatest expense in vegetable production is weed control, especially within the crop row. He said these in-row tools can substantially reduce hand-weeding costs for vegetable growers. With support from a SARE grant, Tilton tested a variety of in-row cultivation tools on eight cultivars of carrots, hoping that carrots would provide a good reflection of the strengths and weaknesses of each tool.
“These tools are widely used in Europe,” said Hitchcock Tilton. “But there is little documented experience of these tools in the U.S. We wanted to try these new in-row tools and some old ones to see how they can best be used, whether they work better in combination, and their overall promise for growers.”
Tilton discovered that combining hilling discs with finger weeders resulted in the least amount of hand-weeding in carrots. He said for these tools to work it was essential that the crop was larger than the weeds and that the seedbed had been well-prepared.
“This project has really focused on capturing farmer knowledge and experience in the use of these machines and sharing that knowledge in a concise way,” said Brainard lab alumnus Marisa Benzle. “The SARE grants made it possible to include our farmer-partners from the beginning to the end.”
Dig Deeper
- The Gallandt lab at University of Maine and the Brainard lab at Michigan State have collaborated to create the Physical Weed Control Forum, which exists as a space for farmers, researchers, and manufacturers to collaborate and share experiences with physcial weed control strategies.
- View a video series demonstrating the tools in the field.
- View a presentation by Brainard and Hitchcock Tilton called, "Innovations in Mechanical Weed Control: Nuts and Bolts from Switzerland to Michigan," at the 2018 Indiana Small Farm Conference.
- View a video from the 2018 Second Annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day.
- MSU Mechanical Weed Control YouTube channel
Want more information? See the related SARE grants:
- Green Tools: Improving Sustainability by Integrating New In-Row Cultivation Equipment and Competitive Cultivars (GNC16-223)
- Cultivating partnerships: Building Farm-research Networks for Improved Physical Weed Control (ONC17-025)
- Sustainable Weed Control: In-Row Weed Cultivation Strategies for Midwest Vegetable Growers (GNC19-284)
- Addressing the Weed and Soil Management Trade-offs in Vegetables Through Integrated Cultural and Mechanical Strategies (GNC21-324)