South Dakota State University has published new recommendations on soil tarping that can help producers manage weeds.
SDSU graduate Hannah Voye, as part of a multi-state research team, recently published new research demonstrating that soil tarping – laying tarps on the soil prior to planting vegetable crops – can be valuable for vegetable growers to manage weeds without harming soil health.
“Our study showed reduced weed pressure, and not a lot of crazy impacts on soil health, which is a positive thing for growers to know,” Voye said. “I think we found a lot of really interesting takeaways for growers interested in using soil tarping.”
Voye wanted to test no-till options for weed management, with a focus on how those options affect soil health. She used onions as her test crop at the specialty crop field on SDSU’s campus in Brookings and looked at two different types of tarps to manage weed growth. One method uses an opaque tarp to prevent light from hitting the soil and germinating weed seeds so producers can plant in a clean soil bed.
Source : sdstate.edu