Tips for Controlling Weeds After Your Winter Wheat Harvest

With the wet weather this year, it has been difficult for farmers to apply herbicide as needed. Post-harvest weeds need to be addressed as soon as possible, so that you can limit soil moisture loss and prevent more weeds from growing. This also helps reduce the spread of wheat streak mosaic virus.

We’ve assembled a collection of considerations to help you control your post-harvest winter wheat weeds in Lubbock, TX:

• Timing: If your wheat is part of a three-year rotation, then you can generally spray herbicides anytime within the next 30 days after harvest. However, if it doesn’t have an 11- to 14-month fallow period, you’ll need to spray about 15 days after you harvest the grains. Because of this year’s wet weather, you may need to spray before the 15- to 30-day recommendation. Your goal should be to prevent the weeds from sucking up the crop’s soil moisture and producing more seeds. Aim to treat them before they’re six inches tall.
• Split treatments: Split herbicide treatments are particularly useful for managing your post-harvest wheat growth. Split treatments combine herbicides with another agent (often glyphosate products or ammonium sulfate), and should be applied once in mid-July or August, then again in September. Be sure to follow all manufacturer suggestions for your specific crop, climate and weed control needs.
• Non-herbicide options: Of course, it’s not all about herbicides—you should make herbicide application part of your holistic weed control approach. This includes not just controlling your weeds as soon as you notice a problem, but using a firm seed bed, fertilizing appropriately, planting at the right time and using a hardy winter wheat variety.

Depending on the type of weeds you’re dealing with, you might also find that there are other solutions available, such as rotating your crops according to a specific time schedule or adjusting your tillage and split treatments for maximum efficacy. You should research which kinds of weeds are afflicting your crops for specific suggestions on how to control them.

When deciding how best to treat your crops, consider the weed size, whether the tops were cut off with the combine, your crop rotation, temperature and precipitation. All of these factors will make a difference in whether your herbicide and other weed control measures are effective, or if you’ll be dealing with more post-harvest winter wheat weeds in the crops to come.

Get help with controlling weeds in Lubbock, TX

Harvesting a healthy wheat crop depends on having the right tools for the job, from planting to reaping. M.B. McKee Company, Inc. is proud to offer industrial, agricultural and commercial machinery components. Family owned and operated since our founding in 1943, we’re dedicated to making sure your machinery runs smoothly, no matter what your system requirements may be. Our goal is to make sure you don’t have to suffer downtime by providing great components, fast. Contact us today for design services as well as all the components you need to guarantee a healthy planting and harvesting season for all of your crops.

Categorised in: Grains

This post was written by Writer