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Crop competition — give your crops the edge

The uncomfortable truth is that in many paddocks the weeds are winning the battles for space and resources.

Growing crops that out-compete weeds gives a double whammy benefit of more crop and less weeds — generating more profit!

Try some or all of these ideas to give your cropping system the competitive advantage:

  • Get the soil pH right and do what you can to improve overall crop nutrition
  • Set up your planter to sow crops on the narrowest row configuration possible within the other constraints of crop production
  • Sow within the optimal planting window for the crop and your location
  • Choose the most competitive crop type (e.g. barley over wheat) and the most competitive variety or hybrid of your chosen crop
  • Select crops with early vigorous growth
  • Set the crop up for success with optimal weed control prior to planting, using double knock tactics and effective pre-emergent herbicides
  • Sow east-west rather than north-south if you can
  • Use sowing rates at the upper end of the recommended range for the crop

And here’s more advice from the WeedSmart crop competition experts:

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