While harvest time can pull a lot of time, attention and effort towards getting crops harvested and handled, it is still a critical time to keep weed control in focus. Letting your guard down now can allow pesky problem weeds to carry over into next year or even allow for new ones to become consistent challenges. Keep in mind that even just letting a few weeds go to seed can result in hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of seeds being introduced into the soil seed bank. Species dependent, some of these weed seeds can be viable for the next few years, even up to the next 3-4 decades.

In a recent article by the G.R.O.W. Network (Get Rid Of Weeds), author Emily Unglesbee highlights this exact concern. Unglesbee also directs us to review the weed seed prevention tool that the GROW network has on their website (growiwm.org/prevention). There are scenarios for both crop farmers and livestock producers. These examples provide an opportunity for farmers to evaluate their own operations, see what they are doing well, areas where they could make small changes, or maybe discover new focus areas altogether.

Some of the highlights include consideration of how and where you are sourcing manure and bedding. Weed seeds can easily be spread in manure and even carried over in manure spreaders. Additionally, it is very common for viable seeds to be found in straw and hay bales. Sometimes, we must ask ourselves tough, but realistic questions. Questions such as ‘how often do we actually clean off equipment (like mowers) after going through a field?’ We often underestimate how many weed seeds can simply be carried around on the top of a mower deck, just to be bounced off onto the ground in the next field. Other opportunities for weed seed introduction include introduction via purchased seed, harvest or tillage equipment being moved from field to field, wildlife, wind and unmanaged ditches/waterways/right-of-ways.

Ultimately, the goal in integrated weed management is to prevent weeds from setting seeds and preventing viable seeds from making it into the soil seed bank. Do what you can to control weed escapes before they go to seed. It is important to realize that weed seeds are viable within 2-3 weeks after flowering. If you do start to find viable seeds on the weeds, unfortunately, hand removal is the only way to ensure those seeds do not get deposited. In many cases, if a weed has reached the point of flowering and setting seed, tillage tools are not going to be a viable option. At that point, mowing, hand removal, electrical zapping, or some other physical form of management will be most effective.

While these preventative measures and considerations can be time consuming and feel like an inconvenience, these small efforts over time can considerably reduce the impact you feel from unwanted and troublesome weeds.

Registration Open for 2026 Ohio State Organic Grains Conference

The fourth annual Ohio State Organic Grains Conference will be January 7-8, 2026, at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Sandusky, Ohio.
The conference offers programming for experienced organic growers, growers transitioning to or considering organic, and consultants or educators who support these growers.

Featured speakers for 2026 include Willie Hughes from W. Hughes Farm in Janesville, Wisc.; Dr. Matt Ryan from Cornell University; Dr. Aaron Wilson, Ohio State climate and agricultural weather specialist; and Nate Powell-Palm from the Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS).
The two-day event will feature additional panelists and speakers covering a wide range of agronomic and management topics related to organic grain farming.

The conference is presented by Ohio State University Extension's Farm Office and Ohio State’s Organic Food & Farming Education and Research (OFFER) program with input from a planning committee of land grant staff and researchers and organic farmers from Ohio and surrounding states.

Pre-registration is $140 per person through December 5, and $175 from December 6 through December 26. Attendees can also pay at the door for an additional fee. Continuing education credits will be available for Certified Crop Advisors. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/OrganicGrains.

Frank Becker is the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator with Ohio State University Extension – Wayne County, and a Certified Crop Adviser, and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or becker.587@osu.edu
CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.