Weed Management in Organic Cropping Systems
- Resources
- Soils and Fertility
- Horticulture
- Field Crops
- Crop Rotation
- Pest Management
- Season Extension
- Seed Production and Plant Breeding
- Livestock
- Ecology and Environment
- Nutrition, Safety and Health of Organic Foods
- Post-harvest Handling, Storage and Processing
- Social Science
- Marketing and Economics
- Transition to Organic
- Canadian Organic Research Priorities
General organic weed management resources
Practical Resources
- Beating them down and cutting them off: Managing weeds organically with Dr. Steve Shirtliffe and Katherine Stanley
- Prairie Organics: Think Whole Farm Recorded Presentations. 2016
- Bring Existing Weeds Under Control Before Planting Weed-Sensitive Crops
- eOrganic. 2014
- Canadian Organic Inputs Directory: OrganicInputs.ca
- Organic Federation of Canada. 2013
- Changing Weed Populations Under Long-term Organic Management: Video
- Creeping thistle: Successful control in organic farming [PDF – 2.6 MB]
- The Organic Research Centre and FiBL. 2017
- Experiment, and Watch for New Developments in Organic Weed Management
- eOrganic. 2013
- Friends or foes: Farmers talk about their relationships with weeds
- Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service. 2014
- Improving Organic Weed Management with Eric Gallandt
- Western Canadian Organic Webinar Series. 2014
- Western Canadian Organic Webinar Series. 2014
- Innovative Concepts & Techniques for Successful Weed Management in Organic Cropping
- Canadian Farm Business Management Council's Organic Agriwebinars. 2009
- Living with Weeds: Putting Weeds into Ecological Context [PDF – 625 kB]
- Prairie Organic Grain Initiative. 2016
- Organic Crop Production: Weed Management
- Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. 2009
- The Organic Grower's Dilemma: How to Manage Weeds Effectively Without Compromising Soil Quality
- eOrganic. 2010
- Organic Risk Management: Weed Biology [PDF - 782 kB]
- University of Minnesota. 2010
- Organic Risk Management: Weed Management [PDF - 818 kB]
- University of Minnesota. 2010
- Organic Risk Management: Weed Profiles [PDF - 2.4 MB]
- University of Minnesota. 2010
- An Organic Weed Control Toolbox
- eOrganic. 2010
- Quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) Control Methods in Organic Agriculture [PDF - 1.3 MB]
- Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), Smooth Pigweed (A. hybridus), and Powell Amaranth (A. powellii)
- eOrganic. 2015
- The skinny on a big problem…weeds
- Rodale Institute. 2007
- Strategies for Successful and Sustainable Weed Management
- Pivot and Grow Video Series. 2016
- Sustainable Weed Management for Small and Medium-Scale Farms
- ATTRA. 2014
- Systems Design for Organic Weed Management with Brenda Frick - Video Recording
- Presented at Manitoba Ag Days Transition Workshop, hosted by the Manitoba Organic Alliance. 2016
- Tools for Managing Pest and Environmental Risks to Organic Crops in the Upper Midwest
- University of Minnesota. 2010
- Tools for minimizing laborious hand-weeding in row crops [PDF - 8.8 MB]
- Organic Eprints. 2014
- Organic Eprints. 2014
- Weed Control in Organic Spring Cereals - Video
- eOrganic. 2013
- Weed Control in Organic Vegetable Cultivation [PDF - 867 kB]
- FiBL. 2005
- FiBL. 2005
- Weed Identification Tools and Techniques
- eOrganic. 2013
- Weed management resources from Saskatchewan (2002)
- Weed characteristics
- Weeds on organic farms
- Weeds - when are they a good thing?
- Weeds - when are they a problem?
- Weeds – how to prevent new problems
- Crop husbandry for weed management
- Growing a competitive crop - First step in weed control
- Crop rotations for organic systems
- Soil fertility affects weed and crop competition
- Livestock and other beneficial organisms for weed management
- Biological weed control
- Using allelopathic and cover crops to suppress weeds
- Summerfallow as a weed management strategy – pros and cons
- Clipping weeds above a crop canopy
- Tillage for weed control - An introduction
- Photocontrol – tilling in the dark?
- Weed control – false seed bed technique
- Selectivity - an important concept in mechanical weed control
- Inter-row cultivation – effective weed control in field pea?
- Post-emergence harrowing for weed control
- Post-emergence field pea harrowing – rotary or tine?
- Field pea harrowing – flex-tine weeder or tine harrow?
- Evaluating Interceptor – an organic herbicide
- Weed Management in Annual Cropping Systems [PDF - 241 kB]
- Certified Organic Association of BC. 2008
- Certified Organic Association of BC. 2008
- Weed Management for Organic Producers [PDF - 312 kB]
- Saskatchewan Organic Directorate. 1998
- Weed Management
- Tri-State Organic IP Video Series. 2007
- Weed Management in Organic Cropping Systems Recorded Webinar
- Science & Technology Training Library. 2016
- Weed Profile: Pigweeds
- eOrganic. 2013
- Weed Profile: Yellow Nutsedge and Purple Nutsedge
- eOrganic. 2013
- Weeds as soil bioindicators: How to sample and use data
- FiBL. 2017
- Weeds: The First Emergence after Disturbance
- Pivot and Grow Video Series by the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative. 2016
- Weeds Your Way: How Upstate New York Organic Farmers Manage Weeds
- eOrganic. 2015
- What are Your Weeds Costing You? [PDF - 217 kB]
- OACC. 2006
- OACC. 2006
- Yellow Nutsedge in Greater Depth
- eOrganic. 2012
Scientific Results
- A meta-analysis of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L.) management in organic agricultural systems
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2018) 254:264-272
- Aphid performance and population development on their host plants is affected by weed–crop interactions
- Journal of Applied Ecology (2013) 50: 1281-1288
- Arable plant communities as indicators of farming practice
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2010) 138: 17-26
- The benefits of using quantile regression for analysing the effect of weeds on organic winter wheat
- Weed Research (2010) 50: 199-208
- The β-diversity of arable weed communities on organic and conventional cereal farms in two contrasting regions
- Applied Vegetation Science (2012) 15: 571-579
- Both farming practices and landscape characteristics determine the diversity of characteristic and rare arable weeds in organically managed fields
- Applied Vegetation Science (2015) 18: 423-431
- Challenges and opportunities for integrated weed management
- Weed Science (2002) 50: 273-280
- Does yield loss due to weed competition differ between organic and conventional cropping systems?
- Weed Research (2016) 56: 274-283
- The Effect of Rotation and In-Crop Weed Management on the Germinable Weed Seedbank after 10 Years
- Weed Science (2011) 59: 553-561
- Weed Science (2011) 59: 553-561
- Effects of organic farming on weed flora composition in a long term perspective
- European Journal of Agronomy (2008) 28: 570-578
- Elytrigia repens population dynamics under different management schemes in organic cropping systems on coarse sand
- European Journal of Agronomy (2014) 58: 18-27
- Environmental Correlates with Germinable Weed Seedbanks on Organic Farms Across Northern New England
- Weed Science (2018) 66:78-94
- Evolutionary changes of weed competitive traits in winter wheat composite cross populations in organic and conventional farming systems
- European Journal of Agronomy (2016) 79: 23-30
- Feasibility of Organic Weed Management in Sweet Corn and Snap Bean for Processing
- Weed Technology (2010) 24: 544-550
- Identifying the challenges of promoting ecological weed management (EWM) in organic agroecosystems through the lens of behavioral decision making
- Agriculture and Human Values (2014) 31: 355-370
- Increased weed diversity, density and above-ground biomass in long-term organic crop rotations
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2010) 25: 281-295
- Integrated Weed Management Strategies in Cover Crop—based, Organic Rotational No-Till Corn and Soybean in the Mid-Atlantic Region
- Weed Science (2018) 66:94-108
- Landscape scale management affects weed richness but not weed abundance in winter wheat fields
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2016) 223: 41-47
- Late-Season Weed Management to Stop Viable Weed Seed Production
- Weed Science (2016) 64: 112-118
- Linking Farmer Weed Management Behavior with Weed Pressure: More than Just Technology
- Weed Science (2010) 58: 490-496
- Long-Term Management Affects the Community Composition of Arable Soil Seedbanks
- Weed Science (2017) 65: 73-82
- Long-term weed dynamics and crop yields under diverse crop rotations in organic and conventional cropping systems in the Canadian prairies
- Field Crops Research (2016) 196: 357-367
- Management Filters and Species Traits: Weed Community Assembly in Long-Term Organic and Conventional Systems
- Weed Science (2010) 58: 265-277
- Mental models of organic weed management: Comparison of New England US farmer and expert models
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2014) 29: 319-333
- Organic Farmer Knowledge and Perceptions are Associated with On-Farm Weed Seedbank Densities in Northern New England
- Weed Science (2014) 62: 338-349
- Organic fields sustain weed metacommunity dynamics in farmland landscapes
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2015) 282: 1808
- Organic weed management in perennial fruits
- Scientia Horticulturae (2016) 208: 28-42
- Response and effect traits of arable weeds in agro-ecosystems: a review of current knowledge
- Weed Research (2017) 57: 123-147
- A review of the recruitment biology of winter annual weeds in Canada
- Canadian Journal of Plant Science (2009) 89: 575-589
- Size and composition of weed seedbank in long-term organic and conventional low-input cropping systems
- European Journal of Agronomy (2012) 39: 52-61
- Strategies for Weed Suppression and Improving Soil Fertility during Transition to Organic Vegetable Production
- HortTechnology (2012) 22: 207-214
- A Systems Comparison of Contrasting Organic Weed Management Strategies
- Weed Science (2018) 66:109-120
- Using a sensitivity analysis of a weed dynamics model to develop sustainable cropping systems. II. Long-term effect of past crops and management techniques on weed infestation
- The Journal of Agricultural Science (2013) 151: 247-267
- Weed–crop competition relationships differ between organic and conventional cropping systems
- Weed Research (2009) 49: 572-580
- Weed management by upstate New York organic farmers: Strategies, techniques and research priorities
- Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (2015) 30: 418-427
- Weed management in organic cereals: advances and opportunities
- Organic Agriculture (2012) 2: 23-42
- Weed Management Practice Selection Among Midwest U.S. Organic Growers
- Weed Science (2014) 62: 520-531
- Weed Vegetation of Organic and Conventional Dryland Cereal Fields in the Mediterranean Region
- Organic Eprints. 2005
- Weeds for bees? A review
- Agronomy for Sustainable Development (2015) 35: 891-909
- Which conditions determine the presence of rare weeds in arable fields?
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2015) 203: 55-61
Resources on specific organic weed management practices
For more information about Organic Science Cluster research on weed management in organic production, please see the following Research Activities:
- OSCII Activity C.32: Integrating weed control for organic pea and lentil production
- OSCII Activity C.33: Novel cultural and mechanical weed control for flax
- OSCII Activity C.36: Effect of irrigation regimes on weed control in organic cranberry production
- OSCII Activity C.37: New innovative weed management for organic crops
- OSCII Activity C.38: Understanding and integration of novel technique to promote depletion of the weed seed bank: How biofumigation acts on different kind of seed dormancy and weed ecology
- OSC Activity B.1: Changing weed populations under long-term organic crop production
- OSC Activity D.7: Development of a weed management system for pumpkins grown for seed in Ontario
- OSC Activity F.2: Weed management for organic wild blueberry production
- OSC Activity F.4: Innovative herbicide and fungicide replacement strategies for organic apple production