If you're battling weeds in the field, a recent report shows that spraying them at this point may not work. So what do you do? Knock them down, literally.
A system being tested by USDA-ARS researchers in Minnesota. Targeted primarily at organic production systems, the "Propelled Abrasive Grit Management" (PAGMan) replaces chemical with compressed air and "grit particles" to control weeds "around the base of the corn, soybean, and other row crops," according to a report from USDA-ARS by Jan Suszkiw.
The system expels .5 millimeter wide particles in a "cone shaped pattern" at a 100 pound/square inch rate. The results have been eye opening.
"Field trial results from 2013 showed season long weed control levels of 80% to 90% in corn using two treatments of the abrasive grit - one at the first leaf stage, and the second at three or five leaf stage of corn growth," he said during an interview with Agriculture.com.
"Ongoing field trials may foretell of the systems potential to help organic growers tackle within row infestations of weeds that have sprouted around the base of corn, soybean and other row crops," he says. "For organic systems, the grit selection can have more of an effect than just knocking down weeds."
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