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Cleaning harvest equipment key for weed management

A certified crop advisor says cleaning equipment frequently throughout harvest is key to prevent the spread of hard-to-manage weeds.

“That is a huge issue that we don’t think about. It’s not just if I go clean it out I won’t have it next year. If I don’t clean it out, I might be fighting it for the next 10 years.”

Mike Wilson is with Wabash Valley Service Company in southeast Illinois. He tells Brownfield combines can easily carry weeds and weed seeds from one field to another.

“If you’re in a field and you know you are harvesting palmer amaranth, I would not take that combine to the next field without taking it home and cleaning it out – I mean pressure wash the inside.”

Wilson says he knows time is precious in the fall but preventing the spread of weeds like palmer amaranth to other fields could save a farmer $25-$40 per acre for several years.