Cultivator Comeback
Row-Crop Cultivators Resurrected to Combat Herbicide-Resistant Weeds
The old, steady row-crop cultivator many farmers discarded years ago with the advent of Roundup Ready crops is experiencing something of a renaissance.
"There is a resurgence in row-crop cultivators," reports Rod Haarberg, of Orthman Manufacturing. "Over the last three to four years, we've seen new markets blossom back. And the ramp-up has been amplified in the past six months."
Short-line manufacturers like Orthman and Landoll stayed in the row-crop cultivator market, while most major manufacturers dropped out.
"Glyphosate allowed producers to park their cultivators," explains Kail Schoen, of Landoll. "We are getting calls from people with older units who want to update them or for parts. They are using cultivators to break the cycle of resistant weeds in corn and soybeans."
A trend to row-crop cultivation doesn't surprise Aaron Hager, University of Illinois weed scientist. "Ultimately, I think more people will move in that direction," he says. "I think for now, most growers are trying to use multiple chemical tactics and not rely on a single herbicide."
Hager expects the in-row cultivation trend to affect soybeans more than corn. "I think we will see more tillage in soybeans because we are running out of effective options [for weed control]," he adds.
The value of these resurrected row-crop cultivators is the ability to handle weed escapes between rows before resistant weeds produce seeds. Hager says getting those weeds early is important to keeping weeds like waterhemp and Palmer pigweed from becoming established and producing seed.
CULTIVATORS UPDATED
Similar to other farm equipment, new row-crop cultivators have evolved since they went out of vogue 15 years ago. The most obvious change is in size.
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"Row-crop cultivators are much larger now," Orthman's Haarberg explains. "We have 12-, 16- and even 24-row models because farmers have higher horsepower tractors to pull them and larger farms to cover."
While cultivator row widths for corn and soybeans are 30 and 36 inches, manufacturers report some interest in narrower widths, although not yet enough to justify building them. However, Orthman does offer a 20-inch, high-speed cultivator marketed for specialty crops like sugar beets.
Precision guidance has eased the task of maneuvering a cultivator through rows of new crops. Cultivator manufacturers report most of their customers have GPS to help guide the cultivators in the field.
"GPS is one more way that row-crop cultivation is more productive than 15 years ago," Haarberg says. "Growers can achieve so much more at higher speeds with more precision."
Orthman manufactures a GPS-directed implement-guidance system called the GPS Ready Tracker IV that precisely steers row-crop cultivators. The Tracker attaches to rear-mounted implements and will hydraulically steer the implement without drift. It reads signals from a controller in the tractor.
Customers also use the cultivator for other tasks. Haarberg says there's been interest in fitting a cultivator with knives for fertilizer placement or using the implement for strip-till. "The producers see cultivators as so much more than just something to kill weeds," he adds.
Hiniker, another manufacturer that has stayed in the cultivator business, notes a growing market among seed producers for the implements. "We've noticed some seed corn growers have returned to cultivators," says Wayne Buck, with Hiniker. "They want to cultivate and sidedress at the same time. Cultivators are doing double-duty."
Buck says he watched the cultivator market gradually build from the South, where weed resistance unfolded first. "We've noticed a real resurgence in the South, Missouri and Arkansas," Buck adds. Now, they are getting a few requests for cultivators in states like Iowa and Illinois, where noncultivation has been the norm.
CULTIVATION OPTIONS
How far the trend to row-crop cultivators will go is anyone's guess. As Hager says, this implement is another tool to build an integrated weed-control program.
"I think the 'take home' here is that there's no particular weed-control recipe that fits every farm," Hager says. "The more integrated of weed-management systems that folks utilize, the less likely weeds will evolve with resistance.
"If we go back to all tillage, then we will have weeds that favor aggressive tillage," he adds. "These large areas we call fields are actually diverse biological systems. They are not static but always changing. We must respond to what's happening with weeds. They are always in a state of change."
For more information on several brands of row-crop cultivators, visit Orthman Manufacturing, www.orthman.com; Landoll Manufacturing, www.landoll.com; Hiniker Company, www.hiniker.com; and B and H Manufacturing, www.bhmfg.com.
THE RIGHT TIME TO MOLDBOARD PLOW
The use of deep tillage to control herbicide-resistant weeds is a touchy subject with agronomists and weed scientists. Highly resistant weeds like Palmer amaranth and waterhemp are loaded with tiny seeds that increase a field's weed seed bank. On the one hand, deep tillage buries the seeds and keeps them from emerging the next season. On the other hand, deep tillage can result in soil erosion.
Growers should save the use of aggressive tillage like moldboard plowing for a one-time use, explains Kevin Bradley, University of Missouri Extension weed scientist.
"The moldboard plow is one option to get a field back in shape if the field contains a high population of resistant pigweeds, and the soils aren't highly erodible soils," he says. "But you should only do it once and not for several years in a row, otherwise you will just keep bringing those seeds back to the soil surface."
The one-time use of a plow isn't a guaranteed solution, either, explains University of Illinois weed scientist Aaron Hager. He agrees a moldboard plow used once can handle a serious resistance issue. "But once that option is used, growers have to be very careful not to reintroduce weeds into the field again," he cautions. "If weeds get established again, they cannot use the option of deep tillage again."
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