If only purge and spurge went together as well as they rhyme. Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula virgata) is a pasture pest that has been invading Canadian farms since shortly after settlement. The National Research Council made a film for farmers in 1946 about the weed and its control. It is estimated that more than 20,000 […] Read more
Tag Archives Weed of the Week Archive
Leafy spurge
Weed of the Week: Kochia
If it wasn’t such a pest, it might make a good forage crop. Kochia is one of the greatest yield threats to prairie farmers. The plants are persistent, produce copious seeds and easily mutate, resulting in a strong ability to naturally select for herbicide resistance. Kochia (Kochia scoparia) is also known as summer cypress and […] Read more
Scentless chamomile
Scentless chamomile’s white daisy-like flowers look attractive, but every farmer knows the weed is bad news. Formally known as matricaria perforata, it spreads rapidly in ditches, along fence lines and into pastures and fields. The annual, biennial and occasional perennial plant is tough to remove from pastures. It likes high moisture and disturbed soil, which […] Read more
Wild buckwheat
Wild buckwheat, polygonum convolvulus, is another of the weeds showing resistance to Group 2 chemicals on the Prairies. Resistance has been identified in Alberta, but there is a threat across the West due to the widespread presence of the weed and the extensive use of Group 2 herbicides. Wild buckwheat is an annual, typically producing […] Read more
Wild mustard
Sinapis arvensis or charlock mustard, also known as wild mustard, is an aggressive weed that has kept many growers from exploring tame mustard production. The weed can be found in most grain growing regions of the northern hemisphere and shows up as far north as the MacKenzie region of the Northwest Territories. It’s a spring […] Read more
Weed of the week: curled dock
When tillage was the way of the West, curled dock or rumex crispus was limited to wet areas, pastures and field edges—areas in which the soil was not disturbed. As tillage disappeared, curled dock, also known as curly dock, began to show up in crops. The perennial plant reproduces largely from seeds, which can lurk […] Read more
Goat’s beard
Goat’s beard is a tough to kill weed once it reaches maturity. This tap-rooted pest is fond of minimum tillage fields.Goat’s beard is a tough to kill weed once it reaches maturity. This tap-rooted pest is fond of minimum tillage fields. The weed can be relatively short or up to a metre in height and […] Read more
Weed of the week: white cockle
White cockle is a growing problem in prairie fields. It is tough to control once it reaches its short-lived perennial stage, and its seeds are practically impossible to clean from commercial timothy, alfalfa and clover seed production. The weed produces large numbers of seeds, has a tough, deep taproot and is difficult to remove from […] Read more
