Marie Cowan is an assistant plant manager for Richardson International in Oyen, Alta.
John farms 1,500 acres of cereals and chemfallow in east-central Alberta. Early last June, he called me with a weed problem. Two weeks after spraying his field he had noticed weed control in his chemfallow was hit and miss.
“I don’t know if rate is the issue or if it’s a bad batch of chemical,” John said. “I’ve had trouble on and off this season.”
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When I arrived at John’s field we did a thorough examination. I noticed spotty weed control in a random pattern. John had all types of weeds in his field. Some of these plants were dead, but often right next to the dead ones were healthy, untouched weeds. For example, I found two kochia plants within two inches of each other — one was dead and the other was thriving. There seemed to be no pattern to it, just random weeds left standing. Trash was minimal in the chemfallow and most of the weeds were at the same leaf stage.
It was time to get down to business and find some answers for John. First, I quizzed him about his application rates. Ample water was applied with chemical and the correct rates were used, so I concluded John’s application rates were spot on. Now we considered equipment failure, but quickly ruled this out because weed control in his other fields was good.
Next I asked John about the weather conditions and he confirmed no wind, frost, or rain in the previous two weeks, with temperatures above 15C. So the elements were not a factor here. I checked with other producers who used the same chemical lot to determine if I was dealing with product failure. But there had been no other complaints.
My last concern was John’s water source. But John had his doubts, “I’ve been using the same water source for years without any trouble,” he said.
“I think I know what your problem is,” I told John.
Why does John have weeds in his chemfallow? Send your diagnosis to COUNTRY GUIDE, Box 9800, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 3K7; email [email protected];or fax 204-947-9136 c/o Kari Belanger. Best suggestions will be pooled and one winner will be drawn for a chance to win a COUNTRY GUIDE cap and a one-year subscription to the magazine. The best answer, along with the reasoning which solved the mystery, will appear in the next Crop Adviser’s Solution File.
