Weed management in no-till farming: scalper, roller harrow and smothering intercrops

Case studies - DEPHY EXPE System Sheets

Mixed farming and livestock Mixed farming and livestockOrganic matter autonomy in vegetable farming Soil cover Weed control in field crops Weed control

Haute-Savoie (department)

Loam-clay

Mixed farming and livestock

Photo credit: François Cena

Dairy farmer Denis Chaumontet has committed to conservation agriculture and has been working for 8 years to restore good soil fertility through no-till farming while reducing his pesticide use.

One of his motivations is to demonstrate that in no-till farming, increased use of glyphosate is not inevitable.

Among the weed management levers, he practices:

• weed control of alfalfa and short cover crops using a scalper, to weed without deep soil tillage. The scalper can be combined with rolling (a roller faca).
• sowing smothering cover crops during intercrop periods to suppress weeds. These can be long, between a cereal straw crop and corn (pollen mixture), or short, between wheat and barley: in the latter case, rapid establishment is favored with species such as nyger, white mustard, or buckwheat.

➔ More information in the DEPHY FARM Trajectory sheet

Annexes

Leviers évoqués dans ce système

• Rolling cover crops during the intercrop period