Effect of Preplant Tillage, Post-Plant Cultivation, and Herbicides on Weed Density in Corn (Zea mays)

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Abstract
A four-year experiment was conducted near Scottsbluff, NE to evaluate the effect of different methods of preplant tillage, post-plant cultivation, and herbicides on weed density and grain yield. Ridge-till enhanced the development of kochia and reduced the density of wild proso millet and common lambsquarters. Tandem disking increased longspine sandbur and redroot pigweed density whereas moldboard plowing increased common sunflower density. Cultivation reduced weed density 86% but weeds that remained after cultivation reduced corn grain yield by 40% as compared with a hand-weeded control. Weed control treatments that integrated cultivation and herbicides controlled a broader spectrum of weed species than cultivation or herbicide treatments alone.