CFAES Give Today
OSU Extension

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

CFAES
September 29, 2020 - 8:00am -- lehman.488@osu.edu

CFAP 2 Program

The Federally funded Coronavirus Food Assistance Program has been expanded and a second application period is now open. This round of payments will apply to agricultural commodities that have seen a 5 percent or greater reduction in value during the pandemic. The application period began on September 21st and will run through December 11th.

For livestock owners, the highest inventory count of market animals between April 16 and August 31 will be selected and then multiplied by a fixed value for each species.

For dairy, a payment of $1.20/cwt will be made for actual milk shipped between April 1, and August 31. A daily production value will be calculated from those records and an additional $1.20/cwt will be paid for projected production from September 1 through December 31, 2020.

The CFAP 2 program will also cover most row crops and many specialty crops/products. See the website for any crops that you may have questions on: farmers.gov/cfap or call your local FSA office.

The entire application process can now be completed online. Applications will be processed by the Farm Service Agency.

Fall Weed Control

Knowing what weeds are present is the starting point of knowing how to control them. Fall is not the ideal time to control summer annual weeds and chemical applications now will not affect weed seeds that have already set and scattered over the soil.

Some common summer annual weeds include: lambsquarter, amaranths, and ragweed to name a few. Any plant that grows from seed and produces its own seed and dies in the same year is considered an annual. These and any other plants that have produced seed already are not well-controlled in the fall.

However, winter annuals are a different story. Because these plants germinate in the fall, overwinter, and then produce seed in the spring, they are good candidates to receive a chemical application. These include: purple deadnettle, chickweed, and cressleaf groundsel. Any pesky weeds that become very noticeable in the spring and quickly produce flowers and seeds before dying are likely winter annuals.

Biennials are a bit tricky. Because their lifespan covers 2 years, one of establishment and a second to produce seed, they often go overlooked during the first year. Plants like poison hemlock, queen Anne’s lace, and burdock are all fairly small in the first year and form a low-lying circle of leaves, or a rosette. It’s the second year when they become noticeable and produce flowers and seeds. Most biennials are difficult to control during their second year, and the fall of the second year is definitely too late as seed production is complete. A chemical control option in the fall can have good success against the first-year plants of those varieties.

For perennial plants, if the leaves are already dying back and the plant is going dormant, chemical control will be variable. Perennial weeds include ironweed, horsenettle, buckhorn and broadleaf plantains. If mowed in mid-summer, these plants may begin to regrow from root reserves and early fall could be a time to apply an herbicide once regrowth has reached roughly one-quarter to half of the mature plant’s height. Do not apply herbicides to freshly mowed weeds. Give them time to put out new leaves which will readily absorb the chemical application.

Marestail, a weed of particular concern in row-crops, has become resistant to many chemical control options, especially once the plant has reached a height of 5 inches or more. However, any seeds that have germinated in the fall and begun to form the rosette are quite susceptible to chemical control.

Following are five suggestions from Mark Loux, OSU Extension Weed Specialist on fall control of weeds.

  1. For those weed species that are well-controlled in the fall, applications should go on before Thanksgiving. Typically, cooler temperatures and frosts send weeds into a dormant state.
  2. Crop residue does not negatively affect control. However, consider waiting a week or two after harvest to allow any weed seeds time to germinate once the crop canopy is removed.
  3. Keep it simple. Loux suggests a mix of 2,4-D and glyphosate for most fall applications on cropland.
  4. Most residual herbicides are not ideal for fall applications. They lose effectiveness over time and seeds will simply wait and germinate in the spring.
  5. A fall application should only cost 25 percent of your total herbicide budget per crop.

Remember, always read the label before applying any product. Check residuals and replant timelines.

Matthew Nussbaum is an OSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Program Assistant and may be reached at 330-264-8722.

CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu.