July 03, 2025

From the Fields: Getting rid of weeds

By Brad Riskedal
Stalks of cereal rye used as a cover crop for soybeans can naturally suppress weeds, by blocking sunlight and preventing germinating weeds from getting the light they need.

Stalks of cereal rye used as a cover crop for soybeans can naturally suppress weeds, by blocking sunlight and preventing germinating weeds from getting the light they need. (AP photo/Joshua A. Bickel/AP)

The moisture is good and it’s not because we’ve had rains. We’ve had maybe 2 inches since planting, but the cover crops have really helped preserve moisture.

The rye suppresses the weeds, so when we need to spray the beans, we spray them later. There are a few small weeds starting to emerge now, but we’ll give them time to come up.

Two weeks from now we’ll probably go in and hit those weeds back and that will be good for the season because the beans will canopy.

Cover CropsScienceWeatherWeeds