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

From Triple Performance
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

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