Organic producers in the United States would like to no-till, but are concerned about managing weeds without tillage. Agronomist Randy Anderson shows that weeds can be controlled without tillage in experiments in the Great Plains of the USA. One favorable tactic is to include a 3-year interval of red clover in the rotation. Red cover suppresses both annual and perennial weeds, and it can be converted to cropland by fall mowing in the 3rd year (Photo). The complex rotation increases the impact of no-till on weed seed decay in soil and provide numerous opportunities for cover crops to replace tillage for controlling weeds. These benefits suppress weed growth and interference such that organic producers may be able to continuously no-till in their farming systems.
