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Participatory investigation of the management of weedsin organic production systems (DEFRA project (OF0315))

Project Activities for 2005

Weed Management in Organic SystemsExperience during the project has shown that :

Organic weed management is a very practical process.

Weed problems are essentially about systems, often have complex causes, and so cannot be solved bysimple technological fixes.

Solutions require an understanding of land history and rotations among other factors.

As each farm system is unique it is often not clear where scientific research can help .

Consequently farmers/growers do a lot of practical experimentation with weed management on theirfarms (this includes observation, simple comparisons of different treatments and kit modifications).

Researchers and advisors are best used to support this on-farm practical research (through providinginformation, monitoring, and assisting farmers assess the effects of their management interventions).

This project has begun to look for the best ways of doing this. So far we have been: providing information and developing knowledge on weeds and weed management

monitoring farmer practice through case studies and visits

promoting the use of simple trials to help farmers assess the impact of management operations

organizing open days and workshops for farmers to share information.

This news sheet outlines some of the project activities aimed at continuing this work during the coming season. Weare inviting farmers, advisors and researchers to become involved in this work, so have a look and contactus if you are interested.

Farmer (on-farm) TrialsWe are providing protocols for some simple weed management trials (subjects include weed control in cereals,dock management and thistle management). A list of current trials is available on the weed website (www.

organicweeds.org.uk) under farmer trials. These trials have been suggested by farmers and are conducted byfarmers. The trials are simple, with at most, two or three comparisons of different treatments. Methods of recordingtrial observations can include digital cameras, making field notes, and mapping fields to record weediness, allaimed at helping evaluate the effects of weeding operations. The more farmers that take part the more useful theinformation. The results are being made available on our website. If you would like us to come and discuss settingup a trial or help with monitoring them then contact us. We would also be happy to discuss any other weedmanagement trials that you (or a farm group) would like to undertake and help get them underway. So why nottake part?

Farmer Case StudiesIn addition to the trials and surveys, we have also collected information from over 50 farmers on the methods andstrategies they use to tackle weeds. These are presented as case studies on our website(www.organicweeds.org.uk). You can use the case studies to pick out farmers or growers who have similar problems or farm systems and

read how they are managing their weeds. Please feel free to make constructive comments on the website. We arekeen to develop more case studies and we are currently looking to add further case studies to the website. Doing acase study can help you to think in a constructive way about your weed management practices so please contactus and let us know if you are interested.

Knowledge DevelopmentThe project continues to develop knowledge for weed management in organic systems by combining knowledgefrom farmers, advisors and scientists. This approach is the best way of obtaining practical and useful informationthat farmers can adapt for use in their own farming systems. Activities are listed below with a brief explanation.

1. Project Website (www.organicweeds.org.uk)Our project website is updated on a regular basis and registers a large number of hits. The site

contains all the information on weeds and weed management obtained by the project. It alsocontains case studies of weed management practice on organic farms as well as results fromongoing research trials and surveys. At the moment we are beginning to develop and offer moreinformation on practical management options in specific crops. Please have a look at the site,use it to obtain information on your weed problems, and tell us what you think. There is anopportunity to comment on each page and, we feel that the more people that start putting on comments the moreuseful the site will become as a reference point and the better we can adapt it to help users.

The Weed Management Project aims to define weed problems together with organic farmers andgrowers, propose ways of addressing these problems, and then research solutions in order to arrive atthe most appropriate for use in organic systems.

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2. LeafletsWe are in the process of producing a series of leaflets which summarise scientific and practical knowledge on anumber of weeds and weed related subjects. They are based on the information contained on the website butprovide an alternative way of obtaining the data. They are intended primarily for farmers and advisors. You candownload the leaflets from the website (www.organicweeds.org.uk) or we can send you a set if you contact us. Ifyou have any thoughts on these or suggestions for other leaflets please let us know.

3. Farmer SurveysAs part of the project we are looking to combine farmer knowledge with science knowledge and one way of doing

this is to solicit farmer opinions on topics of interest and matching this with the collated research information. This isdone through recording information at open days (see below) or by informal surveys combined with scientificliterature reviews. Four informal surveys that are ongoing include minimum tillage, allelopathy, using dock beetlesas a biological control agent, and costings for weed management operations. We would also like to collectinformation on avoiding dock hot spots and evaluating the viability of dock seeds in silage (you need to send in asmall sample for this one). If you want to contribute please contact us for copies of the survey forms or alternativelydownload them off the website, under the farmer trialssection.

4. Workshops Offered to GroupsAs part of knowledge development we also offer to help organise workshops for groups of farmers of growers.These can focus in on solving particular problems (e.g. problem analysis of docks in pasture) or look at themeareas (costing weed management operations or using web based information for weed management). We are alsohappy to attend farm walks focusing on weed management in order to facilitiate discussion or feed in project

information. If you have a group who is interested in developing workshops or running farm walks please get intouch with us.

5. Open days, Group Meetings and Farm WalksWe are happy to hear from anyone who would like us to attend open days, group meetings or farm walks in orderto feed in project information (and we are able to attend evening meetings). Please see below for events that havealready been fixed. If you would like to attend any of these events, or any others, please keep an eye on thewebsite as we will post details as they become available and please get in touch to book your place nearer the day.

Weed Management on a Dairy Farm, farm walk at Hindford Grange, nr. Oswestry, 10th May 2005

Annual Weed Control, an Open Day at Holme Lacy College, nr. Hereford, 25th May 2005

Varieties and weeds in cereals, a farm walk, 21 June at Sheepdrove Organic Farm, nr. Lambourn.

Weed Walk at Feldon Forest Farm, nr. Rugby, 18th July 2005 with Mercia Organic Producers

Livestock for weed management, a farm walk, 13 September, ADAS Redesdale (provisional)). Weed Management Workshop at SA Horticulture Symposium at HDRA (Coventry) on the 7 June 2005

Focus Group Meetings all at HDRA (Coventry) on 18, 25 October and 1 November 2005

Weed management Workshop at HDRA (Coventry) on 6 December 2005

Project information:This newsletter has been produced as part of the DEFRA funded project Participatory Investigation of theManagement of Weeds in Organic Production Systems'. The project aims to involve farmers and growers in alllevels of research and is driven by their requirements. To date the project is funded until July 2006. The projectwebsite holds all information gathered on weeds and their management, including literature from science, thefarming press and practical strategies from organic farmers. It can be found at www.organicweeds.org.uk

How can I get involved in the project? Send us your name and address and we will add you to our database so you are kept informed about the

project

Offer to provide information about weed management on your farm, see Case studies on the website

Become a focus group member (the farmer groups who steer the project direction)

Take part in the farmer trials or surveys (see above)

Use the project website to obtain information and share knowledge Tell us what you want from this project by attending meetings, open days and joining discussions on the

website

The project is led by IOR-HDRA in collaboration with IOR-EFRC, Warwick-HRI, ADAS and RULIVSYS

HDRA is a registered charity, No

298104. Vat No

102664011

Contact informationIf you would like to comment on this bulletin or would like further information on forthcoming events, or anythingcontained in this bulletin please contact:Gareth Davies or Becky Turner,address: HDRA, Ryton Organic Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG.tel: 024 7630 8200 e-mail: gdavies@hdra.org.uk website: http://www.organicweeds.org.uk