The University of Guelph asked Ontario farmers which weeds cause the most trouble for them and released a list of the top five worst weeds last month.
Research technician David Bilyea worked with colleagues Kris McNaughton and Christie Shropshire at the university polling 300 farmers, which was also done in 2007.
Lamb’s quarters was at the top of the list. Growing up to 183 centimetres tall, this common annual weed is highly adaptable and very competitive with all plants.
Canada fleabane flowers, also known as horseweed, is another one of those pesky weeds found across Ontario.
Others on the list are Canada fleabane — common in grain fields — common ragweed, eastern black nightshade and pigweed.
“Weeds compete with crops for resources, resulting in 10 to 50 percent crop losses for producers every year,” one of the researchers said.
The results were presented at the annual Southwest Diagnostic Day, which is held at the university’s Ridgetown Campus and teaches growers new crop management skills.
“It is interesting to see that weeds that rated higher last time have moved down the list, and how new weeds have appeared on the list,” Mr. Bilyea said.
In 2007, lamb’s quarters and Canada fleabane weren’t even on the list.
Meanwhile, quackgrass has been reported less by farmers in recent years.
Farmers are getting better at accurately identifying weeds through social media and applications, he said. In particular, an app called Weed ID is being used on smartphones.
Mr. Bilyea said he hopes the poll results will help spread awareness of unwanted intruders and help farmers take preventive measures to keep them out of crops
Lamb’s Quarters is an annual wild edible that from a distance, tends to always look dusty; this is because there is a white powdery coating on the leaves. Lamb’s Quarters is a purifying plant and helps to restore healthy nutrients to the soil if need be. However, if there is a large patch of lamb’s quarters, be sure that the soil is relatively good and not contaminated. This unique plant tends to spread quickly in areas in which soil is contaminated in order to restore nutrients. One lamb’s quarter plant can produce up to 75,000 seeds.
Curly dock
If I were to pick a bothersome weed I’d pick curly dock. When I was a youngster my father would dig up this plant in our pasture fields. He said it was a poisonous plant for the cattle. I do the same when I see the plant growing in my fields, mostly along the creeks — dig it up with a shovel.
Curly dock is a rhubarb relative in the buckwheat family known alternately as sour or yellow dock. The “curly” moniker comes from the wavy or crisped margins that often characterize the leaves and “sour” speaks to their pleasing, lemony flavor.
The leaves of curly dock “are poisonous to cattle and sheep; the “seeds and vegetation of curly dock are toxic to poultry and can cause dermatitis and gastric problems in cattle;” and curly dock is “an alternate host to many crop diseases.” It is also indicted for toxicity to horses.
Information on curly dock says it is invasive in North America, South America, New Zealand, and Australia. I’ve seen it grow in Finland on the side of roads and in fields so that info is not correct.
In spring, the not-yet-flowering offspring of older plants are in rosette form, while others emerge from the base of last year’s dried flower stalks. Later in the season, mature plants can send up multiple stalks, becoming even bushier and more apparent than they were as rosettes.
