ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
P.O. Box 3657
Fayetteville, AR 72702

Question of the Week

Q.: How can I control shattercane in my organic fields without using chemicals?

J.W.
Missouri

Answer: Below is a link to a Nebraska Extension publication, "Shattercane and Its Control." This is the only Extension publication that talks about non-chemical control.

The relevant pages cited in Jay L. McCaman's self-published book, Weeds and Why They Grow, identify the specific soil characteristics preferred by many common weeds. Low organic matter is one of shattercane's preferences, and this might be one area that you can manipulate over time. As an organic grower, you're probably already using many practices to build soil organic matter, such as adding compost or manure, cover cropping, and green manuring. You might add needed micronutrients (if your soil test shows deficits), but improving your soil structure will be the better investment.

Increased biological activity in the soil affects the persistence of shattercane seed. This fact supports an effort to increase soil organic matter, since biological activity is usually closely correlated with increased organic matter. You might consider buying compost tea and Effective Micro-organisms (EM) to increase the biological activity of your soil. You can call ATTRA for more information on these materials. Besides monitoring your organic matter through soil tests, you can use earthworm numbers as a quick method to determine whether you're making progress. Your earthworm population will increase as does your soil organic matter and the biological activity in that soil. You can take a shovelful of soil and count the worms in it. You will be able to check trends if you do this count at the same time every year.

This isn't a quick fix for the shattercane problem, but it might provide some clues to the weak link in this noxious weed's life cycle.

Library and Internet searches failed to turn up any work on biological control agents for shattercane. Even though shattercane is one of the top-ten noxious weeds worldwide, its close genetic relationship to crop sorghum would inhibit any targeted biological effort against it.

Resources

Buhler, Douglas D. 1999. Expanding the Context of Weed Management. Food Products Press, New York, NY. 289 pp.

Roeth, Fred, Alex Martin, and Robert Klein. 1996. Shattercane and Its Control. G94-1205-A NebGuide. Cooperative Extension Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 6 pp.
http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/weeds/g1205.htm

McCaman, Jay L. 1994. Weeds and Why They Grow. Jay L. McCaman, Sand Lake, MI, pp. 42-44, 81-82.

Order from:
Jay McCaman
Box 22
Sand Lake, MI 49343
[This was still available from Mr. McCaman for $24 as of January 2005].

Sullivan, Preston G. N.d. Organic Herbicides. ATTRA. Fayetteville, AR. 6 pp.

Thank you for contacting ATTRA with your questions about sustainable agriculture.

Last Week's Question and Answer

Q.: Where can I find plastic posts, or other alternatives to treated lumber, for building horse fences?

S.L.
Ohio

Answer: Below are three Web site listings for sources of vinyl horse fences and posts. The phone number is listed on each company’s information.

There is also information about a post wrap that might be of interest. It would allow you to use untreated posts instead of treated posts. I am unsure of the availability of native wood posts in your area, but ATTRA’s Organic Alternatives to Treated Lumber includes information and an enclosure discussing native wood species best for posts.

Resources

ATTRA publication:
Organic Alternatives to Treated Lumber

Postsaver® USA. 2005. Postsaver. 5 p.
www.postsaverusa.com

Ramm Fence. 2005. Plastic fence posts. 2 p.
www.rammfence.com/RF_fence_posts_overview.htm

USA Vinyl Fence Company. 2005. Horse fence. 2 p.
www.usavinyl.com/posandrailfe1.html

Vinyl Fence. 2005. Quality horse fence by vinyl solutions. 3 p.
www.vinylfence.com/ranch.htm

Thank you for contacting ATTRA with your questions about sustainable agriculture.

About the Question of the Week

Each "Question of the Week" is an actual research query submitted by a farmer or rancher and answered by an Agriculture Specialist from the USDA-funded ATTRA program, managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology.

For more information on sustainable agriculture, visit our "Publications and Resources" pages (located in the upper-left navigation area of the page), where you will find ATTRA publications and additional Web links.

Want to ask your own sustainable agriculture question? Then Ask a Sustainable Agriculture Expert.

Last Updated December 28, 2007

ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and is funded under a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Visit the NCAT Web site for more information on our sustainable agriculture projects.

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