Jack Moes, P.Ag. - New Crops Agronomist

Manitoba Agriculture, Brandon

We tend to think of interest in crop diversification as a relatively recent development, but it's a message that has been preached for a long time. For instance, diversification of crops was promoted by both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Even so, the attention paid to finding and developing alternative crops is as important now as it ever was.

The Man-NDZTFA Zero Tillage Production Manual says regarding cropping choices, "If you can grow the crop - you can grow it under zero tillage." This is probably true, but for some crops, growing under zero tillage may introduce additional challenges with respect to weed management. For crops such as field beans, mustard, and canaryseed, the list of herbicide options is reduced by the elimination of those requiring incorporation. For other crops, due to limited acreage, there simply are no in-crop herbicides registered.

Therefore, a rotational weed management strategy, and paying attention to a crop's own competitive ability become even more important under zero tillage than under conventional tillage