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market-farming - re: cockleburs

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Marie Kamphefner <kampy AT grm.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: re: cockleburs
  • Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 09:45:00 -0500



As if we hadn't heard of RoundUp ready soybeans and canola. For crying out loud.

Del Williams
Farmer in the Del

Well, one thing that we got out of Roundup ready beans - Roundup ready cockleburs.

Marie in Missouri


Hi Marie,

My name is Mike. I live a few miles north of Del Williams. I am a new farm owner (4 acres) and new to farming. The posts above confused me a bit...pardon my lack of experience. I rented out my field last year. The farmer sowed soybeans. He used Roundup once during the season for weed control. To make a long story short, he had a better crop of cockleburs than soybeans.

Since that time, my wife and I have decided to try it on our own. We're not big on chemicals and have decided to try sorgam/sudangrass to choke out weeds and add organic biomass to the sandy loam.

I guess my question is 1. Can you shed some light on the intro section of this post? 2. Any suggestions about my current situation? ...are we in the right ball park?

Michael Belluso
3889 S. Rte. 115
Kankakee, IL 60901-7184

Hi Mike,

I can tell you what we have done to combat the cockleburs. We sowed alfalfa, clover and orchard grass in hopes it would choke out the cockleburs and still give us a crop (hay). It did smother out a lot of the weeds and when we plow it under, will add lots of green manure. We will keep some of it to graze chickens and turkeys. Also, I kill every cocklebur I see. Last winter, a few had gotten past me and I pulled them up and burned them. I suppose if I live to be 200, I'll never be able to completely get rid of them, unless someone finds a use for them and they become worth a lot of money. Then, most likely, they would die out.

From what people have told me and from what I've read, I think planting rye in the fall would be a good idea. It seems to have an allelopathic quality and would increase the organic matter in the soil. We haven't done this yet - hubby just can't seem to bring himself to plant something with the sole intent to plow it under - not yet. I'm working on that. It's like herding snails and you can't touch them. :-)

Your plan sounds good to me, but I'm sure there are people on this list with much more expertise than I who could shed some light on your situation. Anyone?

Good luck Mike and good for you for taking responsibility of your own land.

Marie in Missouri








  • re: cockleburs, Marie Kamphefner, 04/25/2001

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