Weed management is the focus of the lead story in this issue. The primary article provides herbicide options for dryland peanut production, as researched by Steve Li, Alabama Cooperative Extension weed specialist.
The side story is an overview of the impact and importance weeds have on different aspects of the world in which we live by Joyce Tredaway, Extension specialist and assistant professor with Auburn University’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences.
Dr. Tredaway’s article got me thinking about the fight against weeds in everything from your fields to my flower beds. I am convinced that the center of the universe is not molten lava, but instead a giant cat’s claw tuber. No matter how hard I try, cat’s claw cannot be eliminated. The same goes for your fields. If you let the field go, peanuts have no chance. Weeds will take over and choke out the crop. It’s a weed’s world, so to speak.
Man has been cursed with weeds, and not disease, insects or other malady, since the beginning. When Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden of Eden, the woman’s curse was pain during childbirth. Man’s torment was farming and weeds.
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it…It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…”
Your fight against weeds is Biblical. Fortunately, since then iron has been forged, chemicals have been created and weeds have been and continue to be thoroughly studied. Use the newest research, information and herbicide recommendations, plus the sweat of your brow, to keep weeds at bay this season.
