VIDEOS - Manage Weeds on Your Farm

SARE September 18th, 2023 - Farmers nationwide are tackling the challenge of using ecological principles to manage weeds using fewer herbicides. Understanding the biology of weeds is key to helping producers adopt innovative strategies that achieve strong yields while adapting to changing consumer preferences. Three new videos from SARE illustrate how Klaas and Mary-Howell Martens manage weeds without chemicals on their 2,000-acre organic grain farm near Penn Yan, New York.

In Ecological Weed Management at the Martens Farm, Klaas Martens explains how careful and flexible crop rotation disrupts the growth and reproduction cycles of pigweed, Palmer amaranth, lambsquarters and velvetleaf, helping his crops outcompete. “This farm has the same weeds everyone else does; it is a matter of degree and distribution,” Martens says.