Page 34—Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 14, 2000
Fertilize Your Crop, Not Weeds
NORCROSS, Ga. It
doesn’t take many weeds in a
grain crop to reduce yields.
Weeds decrease crop yield
because they compete with
the crop for water, light, and
nutrients.
We can’t do much about
the water and light, but we
can manage the nutrients to
give the crop a competitive
edge.
Weeds respond to nu
trients like most crops but
they can also be more respon
sive and more adaptable.
Weeds show similar growth
patterns and have similar nu
trient requirements as crops.
Perennials can easily get
ahead of annual crops be
cause they have an early and
greedy appetite for nutrients
because of their already well
developed root systems. Ag
gressive weeds, such as
lambsquarter or wild oats,
have a faster developing and
more extensive root system
than crops.
Many weeds have a special
ability to utilize high nutrient
levels by luxuriant growth;
others show the ability to
grow better on soils with low
levels of nutrients.
As a generalization, weeds
are better able to withstand
adverse environmental con
ditions, including nutrient
stress, than crops. Weeds
have a competitive advan
tage under such conditions.
Fertilization can be used as
a weed management tool, es
pecially if it’s adopted with
an integrated pest manage
ment approach.
The key is to fertilize the
crop and not the weed and
placement is critical. Alberta
researchers have shown that
banding nitrogen can have
dramatic effects on week po
pulations and biomass pro
duction. In zero-till barley
they found banding nitrogen,
at increasing rates, decreased
green foxtail populations by
more than 95 percent and
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stinkweed populations by 80
percent.
In wheat, nitrogen in
creased both wheat seed yield
and foxtail barley biomass.
However, banding the nitro
gen produced less foxtail
barley and more wheat yield
than broadcasting the nitro
gen.
Fertilizer placement for
weed suppression is just as
critical for immobile nu
trients such as phosphorus.
Alberta studies have shown
that phosphorus placement
GREENBELT, Md.
Smearing the soil in farm
fields during planting can
make it tough for young corn
plant roots to push their way
through the soil.
But a fiber optic sensor de
veloped by scientists with
USDA’s Agricultural Re
search Service could warn
growers that smearing is hap
pening.
This would give the grower
an opportunity to adjust
equipment or change plant
ing attachments.
The sensor was developed
in studies led by Donald C.
Erbach at ARS’ National Soil
Dynamic Laboratory,
Auburn, Ala.
Soil smearing is just what
the name implies. As plant
ing equipment sows crop
seeds, the machinery rubs
against the soil. This rubbing
may smear the soil, forming a
smooth, compact layer in the
seed furrow.
This slick layer of soil
slows air and water flow
through the soil and restricts
shoot and root growth. More
pressure from the planter can
sco
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can have a pronounced effect
on the competitive ability of
wild oats in barley.
In one experiment, seed
placed phosphorus decreased
wild oat production by more
than 50 percent compared to
broadcast phosphorus appli
cations. When more available
to the barley, phosphorus en
hanced its growth, thus pre
venting wild oat seed
production. However, when
broadcast application in
creased phosphorus avail
ability to the wild oats, their
mean more smearing. Since
there’s no effective way to
detect how much soil smear
ing the planter causes, it’s
difficult to estimate crop
losses.
The fiberoptic sensor
would serve as an alarm at
tached to the planter. The
sensor projects a light beam
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production increased at the
expense of the barley.
Phosphorus helps roots
and seedlings develop more
rapidly, getting the crop off
to a good start.
A fast start is essential to
make the crop competitive,
especially against aggressive
weeds. Canadian researchers
have reported that each day
of emergence of wild oats
before wheat or barley in
creased yield losses by about
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onto the sidewall of the seed
furrow and analyzes the re
flected light for characteris
tics that indicates smearing.
When the sensor detects soil
smearing, it sends a signal to
the grower.
ARS scientists are looking
for partners to develop the fi
beroptic sensor technology
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three percent. And, yield
losses declined by the same
amount for each day wild
oats emerged after the crop.
Any practice that will en
courage the crop to emerge
before weeds will likely in
crease yield.
Put your fertilizer where it
will do the most good next
to the crop. Don’t give weeds
any extra help they don’t
need it.
for the marketplace. Their
work on the sensor at
Auburn, Ala., and Ames,
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