Mechanical Weed Control
CFS specializes in both the fertility of your organic acres, as well as customized mechanical weed control applications.Â
As far as overall soil health management is concerned, the use of mechanical weed control implements offers significant advantage when compared to other, no till styles of organic farming. Even in the case of using cover crops for organic farming, the use of mechanical implements for weed control is highly effective and each piece plays a valuable role on the farm.
For organic farmers, mechanical weed control implements include:
- Tine Weeders
- Rotary Hoes
- Cultivators
- Flame Weeders
- Weed Zappers
What Is Mechanical Weed Control?
Mechanical weed control involves the use of man-made implements to remove or control weeds, rather than the use of herbicides sprayed on crops or farmland.Â
For organic farmers, or those transitioning to organic farming, learning how to use the mechanical weed control options available to you is critical to your success in the field.
Developing a mechanical weed control system is critical to success in organic farming and without it, crop yield will suffer greatly.Â
While every organic farming operation is different, the two most commonly used mechanical weed control implements are the tine weeder and the cultivator.Â
At Crop Fertility Services, we use both and sell both to organic farmers all over North America.Â
If you’d like a quote on any implement we offer, please give our office a call at (320)286-2470.
Types of Mechanical Weed Control Implements
Tine Weeders
Tine weeders are one of the most popular methods of organic weed control for good reason. Their customization features offer a wide variety of applications in both pre and post emergence scenarios.Â
A tine weeder is one of the most important mechanical weed control implements there is for organic farmers. They enable the farmer to get into the field in both pre and post emergence scenarios and are highly effective at reducing weed pressure.
Tine weeders with down pressure customization offer the farmer the ability to fine tune the level of disturbance they’re creating in the soil, which improves their overall effectiveness.
There are many different brands of tine weeders, however on our own organic acres, we use Hatzenbichler tine weeders.
We’ve tested Einbock vs Hatzenbichler and currently offer Hatzenbichler implements for sale across the United States.
If you’d like to see a tine weeder in action, we encourage you to attend our annual Field Day, in Cokato Minnesota. The annual Organic Farm Innovation Expo features all types of brands, with equipment demonstrations from multiple different manufacturers.
Each year, we welcome hundreds of organic farmers to our headquarters here in Cokato for a day of in field demonstrations, shop talk, and more.Â
Cultivators
The row crop cultivator is as old as the books themselves when it comes to weed control and trusted methods to get it done right.
Cultivators play a critical role in weed reduction on the organic farm and are best used with a camera guidance system and in many cases, finger weeders.Â
Learning to use a cultivator effectively is highly important to the organic farmer, as these pieces of equipment are the last best line of defense in the never ending battle versus invasive weeds.Â
Cultivator Camera Guidance
Cultivator Camera Guidance systems are a relatively new form of mechanical weed control. While technically, they do not remove weeds themselves, they help dramatically with the overall process of cultivating.Â
The benefits of a camera guidance system are substantial and they pay for themselves in the first year.Â
- Maximum weed control by allowing cultivator shovels to get closer to the rowÂ
- Enables the use of cultivator finger weeders for in row weed removal
- Decreases the amount of time spent cultivating per acre, increasing the overall amount of cultivation a farmer is able to do
Cultivator Finger Weeders
Adding finger weeders to your cultivator system is highly beneficial as it maximizes the overall weed reduction by attacking weeds in the actual plant row itself.Â
Best paired with a camera guidance system, finger weeders are a game changer for organic farmers.Â
Check out our video demonstrations page for in field examples of finger weeders being used.
Weed Zappers
A weed zapper system kills weeds through the use of electricity above the plant itself. Weed Zappers are an excellent form of mechanical weed control, however they’re best used as a band-aid solution to a weed problem that has gotten out of control.Â
Crop Fertility Services offers custom weed zapping for organic farmers in Central Minnesota. For a quote on custom weed zapping contact CFS via call or text: (320)583-3465
Flame Weeders
Flame weeders use propane and a live flame to burn weeds in the plant row. Most often, they’re used in corn. Flame weeders allow organic farmers to permanently kill weeds, while their crop is alive, without damaging the crop itself.Â
This is largely due to the resilience of corn in it’s early growth stages.Â
