Why Won’t Weeds Just Leave Me Alone?

You can pick them, you can pull them, you can spray them, you can burn them, and do just about anything else you can think of to rid yourselves of those troublesome weeds, but they just don’t seem to stay dead, why is that?  Before we get into that first, I feel the need to the obvious; weeds have always been a thorn in the farmer’s side ever since agriculture was birthed some 11,000 years ago.  From when we tried to chop down the first foxtail it began thinking of ways to deal with us dealing with it.

Over the years it has seemed that weeds were always one step ahead of our crops.  I mean, where is the fun of just having a worry-free, stress-free season anyways, right?  They have essentially been bullied for thousands of years.  So what happens?  They become resilient to it and learn how to deal with it.  It feels like the harder you pull the tighter their grip is on your soil because it’s very much true to some extent.  Today we have weeds that are resistant to some of the harshest chemicals that have ever been used in agriculture.  So where do we go from here?

Many of us have just come to accept the harsh reality that is weed control.  You see a weed; you spray; they die; they come back; repeat.  Year after year this is the tune to which farmers have danced to for decades now.  All the while our fields have been paying the price of these chemicals we would use to try and stem the flow of the ever-present pests.  Only to know that as sure as the sun sets, the weeds will return.   But what if I told you that we are all overlooking a simple way of not just helping control the weeds but improving your crop, a balanced soil.

Everyone and everything need a niche in life.  Bee make honey, squirrels collect nuts, and cats are great at nothing because all they do is sleep. The niche that weeds fulfill is finding an imbalance within your soil and exploiting it.  If you think about it, weeds can be beneficial to some extent if you know what you are looking at.  For instance, maybe you have some Giant Foxtail in your field, typically this means that you have excess Organic matter in the field.  Holding back on a manure/compost application to reduce the organic matter in your soil if the simplest thing you could do to combat it.  If you have a Fall Panicum outbreak it could be that your field is struggling with drainage problems.  This could be a Magnesium issue, something a soil test could easily tell you.  Russian thistle could be starting to overtake your garden, well a good place to start is but increasing your magnesium and/or calcium.  No pulling, chopping, or spraying.  You are just working with what they are telling you. 

The scene is more than just “Weeds are here because they are weeds and they are everywhere”.  A more realistic way too look at this is “Weeds are here because there is something in my soil causing them to thrive.”  As you start to see the bigger picture you are able to act accordingly and take care of the issue before it starts to smother out your crops and reduce your yields.  All without the use of heavy chemicals.

Now be aware that we here at Fertrell stand by this idea wholeheartedly but we are foolish enough to think that there are circumstances where you need that herbicide to come along and give you a clean slate.  We just want you to know that addressing the underlying issue is what is going to save you time, money, and a whole lot of headaches as they tend to your crops.