My Dad passed down a love of farming. I’m fortunate to be just old enough to remember the last few full time farmers who still made a living off a single farm. My grandparents did. Primarily from a small dairy herd and tobacco.
As for weed control my overactive imagination has me thinking those big spraying machines could be retrofitted. Instead of a spraying booms they could be outfitted with a boom that holds several heavy duty stirrup hoes to clip off weeds between the rows. But, it’s probably just a crazy idea.
There are ALL kinds of implements out there for such use. You aren't too far off with that. I expect with the newest technologies expanding so quickly that broadcast herbicide application will become a thing of the past. Eventually. There are spray drones already in use that will spray just the weeds and not the whole field. There are protypes of self driving machines with lasers that roam a field and laser fry the weeds. It's all about cost efficiency at this point. Broadcast applications are still the cheapest per acre. That will change though.
I wish ppl understood ag with the common sense that you do. We call the purple flowered plant henbit, dead nettle is new to me. I learn't!
And yes, glyphosate is strictly a contact herbicide and it does not persist. -Not defending it's use, but... let's call the spade the spade.
I’m not sure what it would take to get back to that old practice. - more time and fuel to pull a cultivator through thousands of acres.
My Dad passed down a love of farming. I’m fortunate to be just old enough to remember the last few full time farmers who still made a living off a single farm. My grandparents did. Primarily from a small dairy herd and tobacco.
As for weed control my overactive imagination has me thinking those big spraying machines could be retrofitted. Instead of a spraying booms they could be outfitted with a boom that holds several heavy duty stirrup hoes to clip off weeds between the rows. But, it’s probably just a crazy idea.
There are ALL kinds of implements out there for such use. You aren't too far off with that. I expect with the newest technologies expanding so quickly that broadcast herbicide application will become a thing of the past. Eventually. There are spray drones already in use that will spray just the weeds and not the whole field. There are protypes of self driving machines with lasers that roam a field and laser fry the weeds. It's all about cost efficiency at this point. Broadcast applications are still the cheapest per acre. That will change though.