During the 2020 season, I conducted a trial comparing the mechanical finger weeder to the automated Robovator with funding from the California Tomato Research Institute. My trial was located in Colusa County and CE Advisor Scott Stoddard conducted a similar trial in Merced County. Our main objective was to evaluate weed control, time, and costs associated with using mechanical cultivators as part of a conventional weed management program in processing tomatoes. 

The four treatments in Colusa County consisted of:

1. Grower standard practice: rimsulfuron application ~3 weeks post-transplanting
2. Finger weeder mechanical cultivator in-row ~5 weeks post-transplanting
3. Robovator robotic cultivator...

** From the Western IPM Center October 2020 newsletter **

An potential option for xeriscaped yards

Low-Dose Electricity Shows Promise as a Non-Chemical Option for Weed Control

Start with a heaping helping of weeds in an orchard owned by an electrical engineer, then add in a weed...

Over the last few years, UC Davis Weed Science has been testing cover crops for weed suppression in nut orchards. The most recent project we've been working on has trialed several cover crop programs using cereal rye in walnut orchards. These cover crop programs represent a range of several management philosophies, from a basic, low-input program to a high-intensity forage intercrop. So far, we are finding that a variety of winter cover crop programs can provide some level of winter weed suppression, but cover crops are not (and may never be) a complete vegetation management solution for the orchard floor.

Weed scientists have been thinking a lot more about cover crops recently. Because of renewed concerns about...

SUPPRESS® herbicide EC, a product manufactured by Westbridge Agricultural Products, was registered in California in 2015. Its active ingredients are Caprylic Acid and Capric Acid. It is registered for use in organic production, and it is labeled for use in “agricultural food and non-food crops”. In rice, it can be utilized only when the field is drained (no standing water allowed).

Since 2019, UCCE Rice Advisor Whitney Brim-DeForest has been testing SUPPRESS® herbicide for use in weed control in rice. In 2019, she collaborated with Jim Cook (Colusa County Farm Supply), to spot spray weedy rice in a field containing Type 3 (long awns, straw hulled). The application was made with a handheld backpack sprayer, at...