He notes an irony. Following high yield years, his neighbors worry about how to get their straw to decompose so that it doesn t harbor crop disease organisms. He explains that the robust microbial activity prevents harmful organisms from dominating and causing plant disease. Kochia, a drought tolerant escaped ornamental crop, is showing some herbicide resistance in his area. His organic soils don t have extra N, a condition which attacks kochia at its vulnerable point, he says.
Good soil makes a difference in weed control.
You can walk the edges of my farm and see the lack of clods on my side of the line fences. Other important tools include A Noble wide-blade sweep plow to manage the sweet clover residue during summer fallow. Two seven-foot blades undercut surface weeds. The flat V-blades sweep back at a slight angle from the leading center point. He declined the spray order and turned to a time-tested protocol in an old USDA bulletin.