A flexible combination of tools, timing and technique to suppress early season weeds is the foundation of an integrated row-crop weed management program. Broadcast weeding tools, used in conjunction with cover crops and primary tillage, offer an alternative to herbicides at planting to control weed competition. The action knocks soil from weed roots, causing them to die.
Control is best when field conditions are hot, dry and sunny.
Flame weeding just prior to and just after crop emergence is also effective in establishing early control in some crops. Of the entire group of broadcast tillage or flaming tools, only specially designed rotary hoes work well in fields with appreciable crop residue. Post-plant treatment for weed control before crop emergence is a delicate, time sensitive maneuver. It depends on the ability of an implement to kill surface weeds without mortally disturbing the germinating crop. For preemergent treatments to be effective, the crop must be planted deeper than the working depth of the broadcast tillage tool.