Early maturing varieties compete by shading out the foxtail or by completing their early growth before competition starts. Early seeding and the use of slightly higher seeding rates reduce competition from green foxtail. The suppressed plants may still produce enough seed to infest the field in subsequent years. Green foxtail does not thrive in the cool, loose soil that is often found between the crop rows of reduced tillage or zero tillage fields. Green foxtail populations generally decline under reduced or zero till crop production.
Green foxtail does well when fertilizer is broadcast across the soil surface.
Banding nitrogen places the fertilizer in the soil where it is unavailable to the shallow root system of this weed.