Weeds Case Study
When talking to Brian and Steve about the adequacy of this program for controlling weeds in chicory they were reasonably happy with the results. This is because the application of Preside eliminated a wide spectrum of broadleaf weeds and the cultivation and application of glyphosate managed to eliminate large proportions of the grasses and other problematic perennial weeds.
My evaluation of the control program was similar in terms of Preside doing a quality job at eliminating a wide spectrum of broadleaf species, which I though was adequate and the money being spent on control is defiantly being returned. However, my analysis of the program in terms of controlling perennials weeds was different. I believe that the use of cultivation and glyphosate …show more content…
was not enough to provide quality weed control.
From this I believe that improvements can be made by incorporating Sero WG (750g/kg tribenuron-methyl) into the mix of glyphosate when sparing out the pasture, as this product is better at killing yarrow than glyphosate by itself.
Currently Sero WG is used for controlling yarrow in general pasture that is not going to be cultivated on the farm and this is explained in the yarrow section. However, I am recommending that instead of applying Sero WG to general pasture I think better results will come from applying it with glyphosate when spraying out the poor pasture paddocks for cultivation. This will cost $215 in spray for the 8ha but it will not increase the costs as no extra spray is used, it is just applied at a different time in the control program. Further details and rates of application for this herbicide are explained under the yarrow section in problematic …show more content…
weeds.
There is one issue with Sero WG that needs to be considered, this is that crops cannot be planted for two weeks after application.
However, my analysis is that even by losing two weeks it is likely that the returns for this method would be higher than the current system in terms of increased crop yields and improved new pastures.
The use of a more extensive cultivation could be used; according to Agricom (2012) for quality cultivation for chicory a mouldboard plough, roller furrows and power harrow should be used. This would cut deeper into the soil and break up the roots of the perennial weeds further than the power harrow by itself. However, there is potential that the extra cultivation will actually cost more than the increase in yield; therefore, this is not recommended.
Another possibility is to apply a per-sowing herbicide and according to Agricom (2012) and their guide to growing chicory, farmers have had success using trifluralin. However, this is not approved and this herbicide is very volatile and requires incorporation into the soil and after weighing up the pros and cons I believe that it is not necessary. There tends to be no build-up of weeds that have a major effect on the chicory due to the large time frame between chicory plantings, approximately between 8-10
years.
My evaluation of the control program was similar in terms of Preside doing a quality job at eliminating a wide spectrum of broadleaf species, which I though was adequate and the money being spent on control is defiantly being returned. However, my analysis of the program in terms of controlling perennials weeds was different. I believe that the use of cultivation and glyphosate …show more content…
was not enough to provide quality weed control.
From this I believe that improvements can be made by incorporating Sero WG (750g/kg tribenuron-methyl) into the mix of glyphosate when sparing out the pasture, as this product is better at killing yarrow than glyphosate by itself.
Currently Sero WG is used for controlling yarrow in general pasture that is not going to be cultivated on the farm and this is explained in the yarrow section. However, I am recommending that instead of applying Sero WG to general pasture I think better results will come from applying it with glyphosate when spraying out the poor pasture paddocks for cultivation. This will cost $215 in spray for the 8ha but it will not increase the costs as no extra spray is used, it is just applied at a different time in the control program. Further details and rates of application for this herbicide are explained under the yarrow section in problematic …show more content…
weeds.
There is one issue with Sero WG that needs to be considered, this is that crops cannot be planted for two weeks after application.
However, my analysis is that even by losing two weeks it is likely that the returns for this method would be higher than the current system in terms of increased crop yields and improved new pastures.
The use of a more extensive cultivation could be used; according to Agricom (2012) for quality cultivation for chicory a mouldboard plough, roller furrows and power harrow should be used. This would cut deeper into the soil and break up the roots of the perennial weeds further than the power harrow by itself. However, there is potential that the extra cultivation will actually cost more than the increase in yield; therefore, this is not recommended.
Another possibility is to apply a per-sowing herbicide and according to Agricom (2012) and their guide to growing chicory, farmers have had success using trifluralin. However, this is not approved and this herbicide is very volatile and requires incorporation into the soil and after weighing up the pros and cons I believe that it is not necessary. There tends to be no build-up of weeds that have a major effect on the chicory due to the large time frame between chicory plantings, approximately between 8-10
years.