Managing and controlling weeds can be a challenge and a frustration for farmers, no matter the farm size or crop. Michigan State University's Daniel Brainard, knows that weed management represents a major barrier to sustainable production of both field and vegetable crops, and has been researching and demonstrating tools and techniques for physical weed control.
Brainard and a team of farmers and researchers attended a meeting of the Physical and Cultural Weed Control Working Group of the European Weed Research Society in Switzerland in April 2017. With support from two SARE grants, they collected video footage of various tools in action, and recorded interviews of farmers and manufacturers describing the best use of these tools. They tested some of the European tools and techniques in Michigan, and demonstrated them at field days.
The team created three videos demonstrating three tools in the field: the torsion weeder, the flex tine cultivator, and the finger weeder.
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)
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.