Organic Framing

Introduction

• Weeds can be considered a significant problem because they tend to decrease crop yields by increasing competition for water, sunlight, and nutrients while serving as host plants for pests and diseases. Since the invention of herbicides, farmers have used these chemicals to eradicate weeds from their fields. Today, some farmers have a renewed interest in organic methods of managing weeds since the widespread use of agro-chemicals has resulted in purported environmental and health problems.
• It has also been found that in some cases herbicide use can cause some weed species to dominate fields because the weeds develop resistance to herbicides. In addition, some herbicides are capable of destroying weeds that are harmless to crops, resulting in a potential decrease in biodiversity on farms. It is important to understand that under an organic system of weed control, weeds will never be eliminated but only managed.
• Organic weed management is a holistic system involving an entirely different approach to managing a farming system. The organic farmer is not interested in eliminating all weeds but wants to keep the weeds at a threshold that is both economical and manageable. A farmer who manages weeds organically must be intimately familiar with the type of weeds and their growth habits to determine which control methods to employ.
• Optimizing the biological terrain of the soil for the crop will create an unfavorable environment for many weeds, effectively reducing weed numbers and vigor. This concept forms the core of effective weed control in an organic production system.
• Contrast to this the weed-control strategies of conventional farming, with heavy use of salt fertilizers, herbicides, monoculture and imbalanced cation saturations. Indeed, that environment could accurately be described as one of cultural weed enhancement. The conventional field environment presents heavy pressure to select for herbicide-resistant weeds that thrive under these conditions. Each year, these highly adapted weeds find the same favorable conditions and reproduce abundantly.
• It is really no wonder that most herbicides are only effective for a few years before a newer, stronger (and more expensive) chemical is needed to control weeds sufficiently. It is important to know your enemy. All weed species have their weaknesses and their strengths, usually occurring at distinct stages of their life cycles or resulting from specific growth patterns. Different weeds present problems at different times of year, or with different crops. Some weed-control strategies, such as disking a field infested with quackgrass, may even increase the prevalence of certain species of weeds under specific conditions.
• Grassy weeds often require different control measures than do broad-leafed weeds. Correctly identifying the species of weeds that are causing major problems in your fields is critical to choosing and timing effective control measures