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A Comparison Of Seed- And Seedling-Focused Ecologically Based Weed Management Strategies, Bryan Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many farmers target weeds at the seedling stage, aiming to control weeds with the minimum amount of labor necessary to avoid crop yield loss. Other farmers with a more long-term, seed-focused approach aim to prevent weeds from setting seed so that emergence will be decreased in subsequent crops. These strategies likely vary in short- and long-term effects on farm ecological and economic health. In 2014–2016, I compared these strategies in a test crop of onion. Unexpectedly, due to high yields, the more labor intensive, seed-focused strategy was the most profitable. Case-study interviews of farmers who have adopted each approach indicated …