Organic farmers build healthy soils by nourishing the living component of the soil, the microbial inhabitants that release, transform, and transfer nutrients. Soil organic matter contributes to good soil structure and water-holding capacity. Organic farmers feed soil biota and build soil structure and water-holding capacity. Organic farmers feed soil biota and build soil organic matter with cover crops, compost, and biologically based soil amendments.

Managed intensive grazing or mowing is often sufficient to control weeds. Goats or sheep are effective ''mowers'' for weeds like poison ivy, bittersweet, or leafy spurge. At Maple Lawn Farm, our flock of Cotswolds gradually eliminated poison ivy and bittersweet from our pastures, including infestations of bittersweet that completely covered stone walls. Mixed grazing, of sheep and cattle, or even sheep or goats with equines, can do much to control weedy growth.

Potentially these lands could be used for bioenergy crop production. This might be a good use of such lands because the crops would take up carbon dioxide, sequester carbon in their above and below-ground growth, remove other pollutants from the air, and minimize maintenance needs and fossil energy use for grass-cutting, etc. However, harvesting and removing the crops safely might present problems, and there may be no markets nearby for the biomass, making transport rather expensive.

Keep open mowed areas on all sides around cornfields and other crops damaged by bears. When possible, cut back vegetation along field margins and overgrown gullies and stream beds which may be used as pathways by bears. Single-strand electrified tape fencing may be erected around fields-or at least on the most vulnerable side-as the crop matures. Place bacon strips or similar bait on the tape to entice bears to sniff or lick it to enhance the shock.

Weed control for strawberries is very important for successful results. We recommend preparing your site the year before planting to remove perennial grasses and to reduce weed pressure. Before you plant read our section on Weed Control in our Strawberry Planting Guide and look for valuable gardening tips in Caring for Your Soil.

During the growing season, cultivate regularly around plants, but not more than 3 inches deep, because the root system of raspberries and blackberries is quite shallow. A tool called a scuffle hoe is helpful for this purpose. It is also helpful to mulch plants during the establishment year. Visit our planting guide and Weed Control for Brambles to learn more.

Rid the soil of weeds before you plant your rhubarb and follow our advice on Weeding and Special Considerations for the best results.

To insure a healthy and long life for your asparagus, you should tend to them as explained in our section on Weeding Asparagus.

Absolutely! Most annuals and biennials can be controlled by hand pulling or tillage. Biocontrols (pathogens, insects, herbivores, etc.) are available for several noxious weed species and can be used effectively in some large scale situations to reduce noxious weed populations, contact USDA-APHIS or the weed department for specifics. Competitive vegetation may be introduced or re-introduced to help control noxious weeds.

Milestone provides consistent and dependable control of noxious and invasive broadleaf species, such as musk thistle, Canada thistle, knapweeds, yellow starthistle and tropical soda apple. Field trials have shown that Milestone does so with little or no injury to desirable cool- and warm-season grasses. See the product label for a complete list of weeds controlled.

Toulouse, Emden and Chinese are most often used in commercial operations. Toulouse is the heaviest of the three breeds and Chinese are the lightest. Toulouse lay approximately 35 eggs; Embden 40; and Chinese 50. In BC, goose eggs are largely used for reproduction of meat geese. Some goose eggs are consumed in the Asian communities of BC.

Yes. Upon the effective compliance date for their Captain of the Port (COTP) Sector, owners and operators will be required to visually inspect the TWIC for each worker granted unescorted access to secure areas of a facility or vessel.

Answer: To control weeds, you can over-seed your lawn twice a year (early spring & early fall) to help prevent weed growth. Mowing your lawn high (4-inches or more) shades out most weed seeds and prevents them from germinating, while also slowing growth (for less frequent mowing) and strengthening the immune system of the grass. Keeping your grass unstressed by providing proper light, water, and nutrients will produce a crop of very thick turf.

Prevention is always better than cure. If a Sir Walter lawn is kept in a healthy and well fertilised condition, weed eradication is rarely necessary. If in the rare circumstance weed spray is required, we suggest that you first heavily fertilise when weeds are noticed, followed by at least two mowings in a three-week period. This will usually reduce the problem to a minimum. If spraying is still required, there are several herbicides that can be used.

Since the potting mix in The EarthBox is covered, weeds don’t even have a chance to start. There’s never any need to pull weeds or use herbicides.

IMPACT herbicide will provide postemergence control of major broadleaf weeds most common in corn such as velvetleaf, cocklebur, pigweed, waterhemp, lambsquarters and ragweed, including either triazine or ALS resistant biotypes.

Energy crops, also called "bioenergy crops", are fast-growing crops that are grown for the specific purpose of producing energy (electricity or liquid fuels) from all or part of the resulting plant. The plants that have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for further development as energy crops are mostly perennials such as switchgrass, willow and poplar.

Plants become weedy by acquiring traits we don't like, like spreading rapidly or being difficult to eradicate. Since these traits are sometimes useful to plants by giving them an advantage over other plants, they sometimes occur as a result of natural selection. For example, Purple Loosestrife is used as a garden plant in some parts of the United States, but in other parts, it tends to sow seeds rapidly, and is therefore considered a weed.