Wheat harvesting season creates timely questions from producers for after the combine field care.
Sarah Lancaster, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist for the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University says there are a few reasons weed control is critical even after harvest.
“it’s hot its dry…weeds are harder to kill in those environmental conditions… [and] in a lot of cases we’ve harvested out a lot of the growing points the leaf areas of those weeds so there’s not a lot of opportunity for them to take in the herbicides…” Lancaster said. “But it’s still an important thing to do…we know if we don’t kill those weeds when they’re a reasonable size they’ll go to seed and be a challenge for years to come.”
Lancaster suggests allowing weeds to grow enough that herbicides can be applied on greater surface area for maximum effectiveness. She warns that the timeliness of application is a critical factor that weeds have enough leaf area to cover but that they have not gone to seed.
For more information visit https://eupdate.agronomy.ksu.edu/article/controlling-weeds-after-wheat-harvest-597-1.
