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Organic Trade Association (OTA) is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America.
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Greenfield, MA 01302
413-774-7511
It's often said that weeds are the key constraint for organic farmers. They can definitely be a challenge. However, there's a huge toolkit of weed management strategies, tools and products that you can draw on: tillage techniques, timing, cover crops, rotations, mechanical practices like flame weeding ... and even organic herbicides. The good news: organic farmers report that weeds get much better over time. As Ohio organic grain farmer Dean McIlvaine told a reporter for the New Farm web site, "The longer I've been doing this (organically) the more benefits and improvements I see--soil structure, the color, the aroma… the weeds have gone from tough to control to easier to control."
And there's always the satisfaction of using your knowledge and wits to manage weeds in a way that doesn't damage the soil, the water, beneficial plants and insects, or the health of you and your family.
This collection of resources includes profiles of farmers around the country who've been successful at managing weeds organically; detailed tillage strategies; cover crops for both weed management and soil fertility; and dozens of other proven strategies for keeping weeds under control.
| Previous page: Pest/Disease Management | Next page: Soil Health/Nutrient Management |
Resource Listing
 Weed Management |
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| Click the titles below to view specific resource details or -OR- view all | |
Look, Ma! No Weeds: A 3-Part Series on Early Season Weed Control This 3-part series from NewFarm.Org includes the following (links to parts 2 and 3 are below): Part 1: The basics of effective tillage techniques.... |  |
| Grapes: Organic Weed Management in Vineyards, from the University of California at Davis Outlines a variety of classic and innovative strategies for managing weeds in organic vineyards, including weed mapping to get a picture of what... | |
| Managing Pests and Weeds without Pesticides: Fact Sheets from the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides This web page features dozens of fact sheets on specific strategies to manage ants, aphids, codling moths, fruit flies, lacewings .... a whole... | |
| New Tools for Organic No-Till: Introducing a Cover Crop Roller Without all the Drawbacks of a Stalk Chopper Here's the story of how good neighbors designed and constructed a front-mounted cover-crop roller that allows you to knock down a weed-suppressing... | |
| NewFarm.Org's Weed Management Forum An active forum for farmers who address weed management strategies and problem weeds with each other. | |
| Weed FREE! An Ode to Rye Minnesota researcher Paul Porter is working with five farmers to figure out the best way to use a rye cover crop as an effective weed suppressant... | |
| A Weed Identification Guide from the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research This sophisticated online weed guide allows you to browse for information and pictures of weeds by name, flower type, leaf type, growth habits and... | |
| ATTRA's Sustainable Disease, Weed, & Pest Management Resource Page This rich collection of articles from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service covers a wide range of topics on disease, insect and... | |
| Integrated Pest Management, from University of Illinois Extension This deep web site provides articles and handbooks on environmentally sustainable methods for managing weeds, pests and diseases in field crops,... | |
| Integrated Weed Management--One Year's Seeding This extension bulletin from Michigan State University was published in February 2005 as the result of a collaborative effort among researchers,... | |
Organic Field Crops Handbook The book is a practical reference guide for both organic field crop farmers and conventional farmers who are considering making the transition to... | |
| Organic Weed Management Basics, from West Virginia University Extension Service A 4-page fact sheet, in pdf format, covering the basics of organic weed management, from rotation and tillage options to mulches and flaming. | |
| Organic Weed Management Guide, from North Carolina State University Outlines a system of organic weed management that includes multiple tactics to help reduce losses and control weeds more effectively. | |
| Organic Weed Management: A Project of NOFA-Mass A commercial farmer in New York, author Steve Gilman devotes several chapters to strategies of control: stale seedbed, use of the stirrup hoe and... | |
| Organic Weed Management: Concepts, Strategies and Methods of Controlling This short book/long pamphlet is well written, inexpensive, and full of valuable tips on weed management from an experienced vegetable farmer. The... | |
| Penn State Agronomy Guide 2005-2006: Organic Crop Production--Weed, Insect and Disease Management This online guide book covers pest, insect, weed and disease management in organic systems. The book addresses biological, cultural, physical,... | |
| Principles of Sustainable Weed Management for Croplands A very valuable primer on weeds that provides an understanding of why and how weeds become a problem, and offers proactive strategies for managing... | |
| Steel in the Field: a Farmer's Guide to Weed Management Tools Weed control demands time, labor and expense for every farmer every year. "Steel in the Field" shows how today's implements and techniques can... | |
| University of California's Weed Photo Gallery This alphabetical listing of weeds, from the University of California's statewide integrated pest management program, offers pictures and... | |
| Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide An alphabetical directory of common weeds and weed seedlings found throughout Virginia and the Southeastern U.S, including pictures and descriptions. | |
| Weed Management for Organic Crops, from the University of California at Davis's Small Farm Program In five pages, this PDF document covers strategies for reducing the weed seed bank, cultivation tips, mulches, beneficial organisms, chemical... | |
| Weed Management for Organic Farmers, by Iowa State University organic specialist Kathleen Delate This word document, from Iowa State University's Organic Specialist, outlines a multi-pronged approach to managing weeds in an organic system. | |
| Weed Management for Organic Farmers, from Iowa State Extension An attractive 8-page brochure that addresses both the philosophy of organic weed management and specific production practices and... | |
| Weed Seedbank Dynamics in Three Organic Farming Crop Rotations Weed management is a primary concern of organic farmers. Crop rotation is an important potential management approach for regulating weed seed... | |
| Weeds of the Northeast, from Michigan State University A guidebook to weeds in the Northeast. | |
| Allelopathy: How Plants Suppress Other Plants This article from University of Florida provides an overview of allelopathy, with some discussion of impact on weeds. | |
| Bindweed Identification and Control Options for Organic Production This fact sheet discusses organic cultural and biological control of bindweed in the upper plains states. From the University of Nebraska Extension... | |
| Changes in Weed Communities During Transition to Organic Research from the University of Illinois, published in 2006. | |
| Colorado Environmental Pesticide Education Program's Organic Management Fact Sheets This web page provides links to fact sheets on organic management of noxious weeds in Colorado, as well as links to other Colorado organic resources. | |
| Comparison of Organic Management Systems and Crop Rotations to Determine Impact on Weeds An experiment was initiated in Minnesota in Fall 2002 to identify the costs and benefits associated with integrating additional crops and... | |
| Controlling Weeds Using Propane Generated Flame Or Steam Treatments In Crop And Non Croplands Thermal weed control systems using steam or flame treatments of crop and non-cropland weeds may offer significant benefits over existing weed... | |
| Corn: Weed Management in Organic Sweet Corn and Edamame Soybean In 2004 Kentucky researchers established replicated research plots to test the effectiveness of six organic weed management strategies used over... | |
| Crop Rotation and Tillage System Influence Late-Season Incidence of Giant Ragweed and Horseweed in Indiana Soybean The objective of this survey was to determine the relationship between crop rotation, tillage system, and prevalence of horseweed and giant ragweed... | |
| Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds This is the definitive treatise on the theory and practice of non-chemical weed control. It is technical but will be comprehensible to most people... | |
| Effect of Steam and Flame Applications on Weeds in Peaches This slide presentation evaluates the effectiveness of flame and steam weeding on weeds in peach orchards. From Colorado State University Extension. | |
| Effectiveness of Vinegar and Clove Oil for Control of Annual Weeds. This research poster details the results of using vinegar and clove oil as natural herbicides. From Penn State University. | |
| Integrated Weed Management for Fresh Market Production Fruit and vegetable production, more labor is often spent on weed management than any other task. Understanding where a weed grows, why it grows in... | |
| Mulching for Weed Control in Annual Organic Vegetable Crops Vegetable growers and gardeners spend considerable time and effort each season on weed control. Good mulching practices, when combined with timely... | |
| Organic Farming in North Dakota This web page from North Dakota State University Extension links you to articles, fact sheets and budgets of interest to organic farmers. It... | |
| Organic Pest Control, Resources Provided by The Idaho Association of Soil Conservation Districts Provides a listing of approved and prohibited materials for control of insects, weeds and diseases. | |
| Organic Weed Management: Balancing Pest Management and Soil Quality in a Transitional System 2003/2004 annual report from the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, Rock Springs, PA: This research project focuses on weed management... | |
| Pest Management in Organic Field Crops, from NC State University A detailed overview of organic management of weeds, pests and diseases for field crops. The insect management section covers how to management... | |
| Soybeans: Organic Weed Control with Winter Rye Organic soybean producers may be able to use winter cereal rye as an inter-seeded companion crop to control weeds, according to research led by a... | |
| Soybeans: Utility of Interseeded Winter Annual Cereal Rye in Organic Food-Grade Soybean Growers typically rely on tillage for weed control in organic food grade soybean production systems. Disadvantages with crop systems that rely on... | |
| Strawberries: Effect of Multiple Applications of Flaming on Canada Thistle Biomass in Fallow Organic Strawberry Production Perennial weeds are a chronic problem associated with organic strawberry production in Colorado. Crop rotation, mechanical cultivation, hand... | |
| Ten Steps Toward Organic Weed Control This factsheet quickly outlines a wide variety of practical strategies for managing weeds organically on vegetable farms. Written for Vermonters,... | |
| The Influence of Organic Transition Systems on Beneficial Ground-Dwelling Arthropods and Predation of Insects and Weed Seeds The influence of farm management practices on ground-dwelling natural enemy communities and predation of insects and weed seeds was investigated... | |
| The Organic Weed Management Website, from Cornell University While primarily designed for serious gardeners, this web site has hundreds of resources and articles on the basics of organic weed management.... | |
| Watermelon: Weed Management in Organic Watermelon Production--Research from Oklahoma State University Research ongoing until 2010 will look at watermelon varieties suitable for organic production, along with weed management practices for organic... | |
| Weed Control Using the Atarus Stinger Steamer in Plastic Culture Weeds are a chronic problem associated with organic strawberry production in Colorado. Plastic mulch helps reduce weeds within the beds of... | |
| Weed Ecology and Management Learning Module of the Organic Cropping Systems Project: Organic agriculture for the future: Designing Farms for Better Soil and Pest Management A simple 3-part module providing information on how soil quality, soil fertility and cover crops influence weeds. The module is followed by a... | |
| Weed Management in Organic Cropping Systems, from Penn State University This 4-page fact sheet covers the basics of weed management and lists some OMRI-approved organic herbicides. | |
| Weed Population Dynamics in the Transition Period to Organic and No-Till Diversified Cropping Systems in the Northern Great Plains Producer identified obstacles to adopting more diverse cropping systems or organic production systems include concerns about weed management during... | |
| Winter Annual Weed and Early Spring Insect Control Using Propane Flaming in Dormant Alfalfa Winter annual weeds and early spring insects are common pests of alfalfa, Medicago sativa, grown along the Front Range of Colorado. Winter annual... | |
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| Pathway to Organic: Producers // Processors | |
Regional Guide: United States | |
North American Directory | |
Key Resources |
Disclaimer: Organic Trade Association (OTA) is providing this information solely as a resource to the public. Although the information contained on this site is believed to be correct at the time of posting, OTA disclaims all responsibility for any damages or liability that may result from use or reliance on this web site or information contained herein
© 2010 the Organic Trade Association