It’s official. An Alberta weed survey showed perennial plants are one of the biggest weed problems for farmers.
“Perennial weeds have increased over time,” said Trevor Schoff, an Alberta Agriculture crop specialist in Camrose involved in the survey.
The provincial survey showed perennial weeds, like dandelion and perennial sow thistle, are in twice as many fields now compared to the 1970s.
Canada thistle has not increased in severity, but it’s an ongoing problem.
Almost 700 fields from across the province were surveyed last year. Schoff said there wasn’t anything surprising in the survey, but it confirmed what was already suspected.
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Chickweed, stinkweed and wild buckwheat are the dominant annual broadleaf weeds.
Twenty years ago green foxtail and wild oats were the dominant weeds. Wild oats has increased slightly since then, but green foxtail has declined from the second-most abundant weed in the 1970s to 17th in 1997.
Ups and downs
Wild mustard, tartary buckwheat and Russian thistle each had major decreases in their abundance. Cleavers, common groundsel and pineapple weed had large increases.
Schoff said researchers still don’t know why there has been a shift in weeds. They asked each farmer to document the type of farming practice used in each of the fields surveyed. Once that information is analyzed, the agrologists hope to pinpoint management practices that influence weed numbers.
“We’re hoping to get more of the why figured out,” said Schoff.
Because of the change in weeds and an increase in reduced tillage, Schoff thinks farmers may have to look at their crop plans four to five years in advance to reduce weeds.
“It’ll have to be a longer planning than a year-to-year approach.”
Surveyers also asked farmers whose land was surveyed what they feel are the four worst weeds on their farm. Those lists will be compared to the weeds actually found in each field.
“There’s a big problem with field scouting. They need to know what they have before they can do something about it.”
