Preventive Weed Management Tactics
Preventative weed management tactics are those that stop a weed species from being
introduced and contaminating an area they don't already infest. Preventative tactics
include sanitation and legal methods.
Sanitation Prevention Tactics
Tactics in this area are accomplished by management of animals, equipment, crop
production and the farmstead.
Animal Management
- destroy weed seeds in manure by fermentation
- don't let livestock move from infested to clean areas
- do not feed weed screenings, grain or hay with weed seeds with first destroying their
viability by grinding, cooking or ensiling
- ensuring new weed seeds aren't carried onto the farm in contaminated feed
- utilize ensilage to kill weed seeds
- kill seeds by passing through animals (may be viable left though)
Equipment Management
- clean all farm equipment moving from infested to clean areas, and when new equipment is
brough on farm (esp. used equipment)
- ensuring new weed seeds aren't carried onto the farm in contaminated machinery
Crop Production Management
- use clean seed
- prevent plant escapes that may turn into volunteer crop weeds
- seed introduced by mechanical harvesting
- preventing weeds on the farm from producing seed
Farmstead Management
- keep irrigation banks, drainage areas, grass waterways free from weeds
- keep uncropped areas free of weeds: ditch banks, fence rows, fence lines, field corners,
roadsides, railroad right-of-ways
- ensuring new seed are not introduced in soil, gravel or sand brought on farm
- not introduced in irrigation or drainage water
- prevent wind-borne seed introduction
- prevent introduction from nursery stock, sod and turf brought on farm
Legal Prevention Tactics
- Seed laws preventing crop seed contamination with weed seeds: state seed laws, federal
seed laws
- Seed certification
- Noxious weed laws:
-state noxious weed laws
-federal noxious weeds laws: quarantine
