Loading...
The Rural Voice, 1978-04, Page 7HELM WELDING LIMITED RR 2, Lucknow '/i mile south of Lucknow After h%o dry years, farmers need to take special care to make sure their herbicides are effective this year. •Photo courtesy Monsanto. HERBICIDES Pat is receiving more questions than usual this year on herbicides, he says, because of two dry summers when the herbicides didn't do their job. Now the problem is increased because there are more weeds and some of the two-year seeds have had a chance to go to seed. Farmers can't afford to see a third year with out adequate control, he says. Instructions on most weed sprays say that if you don't get rain within a few days to work it in to the soil. Pat recommends not to ‘vait that long this year but if it looks dry to incorporate the spray into the soil barely an inch so that if a big rain does come, it won't soak the herbicide down so deeply in the soil that it will be out of reach of the root systems of the weeds. There are several problem weeds plaguing farmers including velvet leaf and jimsonweed. Velvet leaf is a very adaptable plant that will grow just tall enough in any crop that it will be above the rest of the plants. That means in beans it will still be short, but in corn it v.jll still be a few inches above the corn. Its hard stalk makes for problems in the combine. It produces seed in quantity similar to a good crop of oats. If a farmer sees a stalk of the plant growing in the field he should pull it quick or figure on having big problems in the future, Pat says. There are herbicides available but when the weed is just setting in it's better to just pull the plants. Compared to an infestation of velvet leaf. Pat says. controlling milkweed looks easy. The Monkton area has seen a weed known as leafy spurge make an appearance, usually along fencerows and sometimes in hayfields. The plant if poisonous and causes swelling and irritation with cattle when ingested, like an allergic reaction. One Monkton farmer lost a cattle beast to the poison. Spot spraying with Cytrol or Roundup will control the weed. It's expensive pat says. but even one plant in a bale of hay could cause problems to a cattle beast. Farmers should take a look at their herbicide use to make sure they are using the right herbicide for the right job, he says. There are some farmers who still have an annual grass problem in their corn and most of them have it because they've been using the wrong herbicide. ' Farmers might also like to look at the cost of their herbicide. Usually there are two herbicide products that will do the same job and one may be cheaper than the other, he say. AIR SPRAYING One of developing areas which Pat is excited about is the use It. 529-7627 Feed tanks are built of 14 gauge metal, paint- ed blue. They are ruggedly reinforced with heavy angle iron ring and legs. All tanks are of side draw off design. Capacity: sizes range from 4 to 16 tons. Prices include ladder, blow pipe for filling, manhole and inspection glass. Re- quires concrete pad base 91/2' x 91/2' square, 10" deep, reinforced with steel. We also specialize in building gravity boxes farm wagons, 3 -pt. hitch scraper blades, and general fabric- ation. For details on plans covering Corn, Spring Grain, Beans & New Forage Seeding call: PETER ROY 17 Gibbings St., Clinton Phone 482-9357 THE RURAL VOICE/APRIL 1978. PG. 7.