Abstract

Weed control is important to optimize crop production. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of different methods of fall-implemented weed control strategies. These strategies included different cover crop mixes, chemical control, and mechanical control. The cover crop mixes included four different commonly-planted winter cover crops. The chemical control was a fall-applied burndown, and the me­chanical control was vertical tillage. We found cover crop mixes that contained cereal rye provided the most weed control, with the chemical control being a close second. Spring oats die during the winter because of the low temperatures. The three cover crop mixes containing spring oats still provided 50% reduction in weed biomass the follow­ing spring. However, the fall tillage increased the amount of weed biomass.

Keywords: weed control, cover crops, fall-applied herbicide, vertical tillage

How to Cite:

Chism, L. I., Dille, J. A. & Sassenrath, G. F., (2019) “Using Cover Crops as an Effective Weed Control Method in Southeast Kansas”, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports 5(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.4148/2378-5977.7743