1993 Annual Report for LNE93-034
An Integrated Extension/Research Program for Replacing Herbicides with Mechanical Cultivation in New York State
Summary
Objectives
1. To reduce herbicide use by implementing a state-wide educational program on cultivation as a substitute. The program will consist of cultivation clinics, on-farm trials, demonstration plots, a farmer-to-farmer information network and literature.
2. To research the comparative value of various cultivators and cultivation systems for replacement of herbicides in the northeastern U.S.
Results to Date
A statewide educational program to encourage the use of cultivation as a substitute for chemical weed control in corn was implemented in 1993 and continued in 1994 and 1995.
We found that hillside farms present special problems for cultivation and will be less likely to be adopted there. Rocky soils limit choice of implements while sandy soils are much more subject to drought stress when cultivated. Sufficient to excess moisture early in the growing season followed by dry weather greatly reduces cultivation efficacy. When cultivation is combined with banded herbicides, band width is more important than timing of cultivation although the quantity and distribution of rainfall can greatly effect this as well.
An information bulletin titled "Cultivation Basics for Weed Control in Corn" was published in January 1997 and is intended for use by extension field staff and farmers in the northeast. Providing a summary of much of the cultivation research in New York over the past 8 years, it includes information on management considerations, cultivation efficacy with conventional and conservation tillage, equipment, integration of mechanical and chemical weed control and economics. It has been distributed to all field crops extension agents in New York.
Research on cultivation tools and systems has found that cultivation can be used in place of herbicides to control weeds in both conventional and reduced tillage regimes with modest or no reduction in corn yields. In conventional till, little difference in effectiveness was found among several implements. However, in no-till, a cultivator equipped with multiple sweeps on heavy shanks without disk coulters was superior to the other implements tested. Cost of cultivation was comparable to or less than chemical control in these experiments.
Research has also confirmed that banded herbicide combined with a single cultivation provides equivalent weed control and yields compared to broadcast herbicides. Banding reduces herbicide use by 65 percent and requires less labor/time than weed control by cultivation solely. Timing of cultivation in this system is relatively unimportant thereby allowing the farmer greater flexibility.