CHAPTER 5: INTRODUCTION TO WEEDS 2020-08-05 13:37:15

Waterhemp is a common weed in feld crop production felds. CHAPTER 5: INTRODUCTION TO WEEDS

Weed management is vital for maximizing crop production and is an important component of IPM. In order to manage weeds you will need to identify the weed, consider the impact of the weed, and understand its life cycle. Many weed management techniques exploit the life cycles of weeds and use weed biology characteristics in the development of control strategies.

A simple defnition of a weed is "a plant out of place." Even corn and soybean plants become weeds when they crop up as volunteer plants in felds where their presence is not welcome.

Weeds may be classifed by their structure and form such as grasses, sedges, or broadleaf weeds. Weeds are characterized further within those larger groups by their life cycles and how they develop and reproduce. Weed Identifcation Resources It can be diffcult to identify weeds, which makes it benefcial to have helpful resources to aid in the process. Depending on your region, a few recommended references include:

Weeds of the Midwestern United States and Central Canada, by Charles Bryson, Michael DeFelice, and Arlyn Evans; Weeds of the Great Plains, by James Stubbendieck; Weed Identifcation Field Guide, from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach; Southern Weed Science Society; An IPM Pocket Guide to for Weed Identifcation in Field Crops from Michigan State University; Weed ID Guide from University of Missouri; Common Weeds of Kentucky from the University of Kentucky; Weeds of the Northeast, by Richard Uva, Joseph Neal, and Joseph DiTomaso; Weeds of the West, by Larry Burrill et al.; and iNaturalist plant identifcation app

These are great resources with images and other information to help identify weeds in your crop feld. Remember, weed samples can also be sent to diagnostic laboratories for professional identifcation.