Weeding workshops: Building weed management skills and networks with diverse farmers

Weeds can severely reduce crop yield and farm profitability. Choosing weeding tools can be confusing, and it’s not uncommon for vegetable growers to buy expensive tools that don’t work for them. Farmers learn more and learn better when they can experiment with weeding tools in the field, learning from experts and farmers in the process, but such opportunities are rare. Historically underserved farmers have additional barriers to accessing weed management resources. For example, immigrant growers often lack access to trainings delivered in their primary languages or presented in culturally relevant ways. This project will educate vegetable farmers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa about weeding tools through four on-farm workshops, hosted at farms operated by HMoob, Latinx, and women farmers, making these events more welcoming to HMoob and Spanish-speaking growers. Host farmers will receive expert training in the use of new weeding tools on their farms during the season so they can share their experiences in their native languages at the workshops. The workshops will demonstrate three scales of weeding tools for farmers to try and will include HMoob and Spanish interpretation. Post-project, the tools will be stored at Fondy Farm and available to farmers and ag professionals for training.