Successful weed management can seem like an uphill battle, especially for organic farms. Learning about the basic principles and available tools for precise mechanical weed control is the key to creating a comprehensive plan that not only combats unwanted plants but also promotes responsible land stewardship. The 3rd annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day is bringing this hands-on learning event to Waukesha, WI. We have gathered weeding tools and allied equipment, keynote speakers, company representatives, farmer-to-farmer networking, and in-field equipment demonstrations.

• Hear from national and international experts on weeding tools and techniques
• Meet with over 150 farmers from all over the Midwest and Canada
• See exhibits of most of the cultivation tools currently manufactured, speak with company reps, and see extensive field demos
• Learn about new and retro-fitted camera-guided cultivators and see them running in the field

The Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day is the Midwest’s largest field day devoted to mechanical weed control for growers. This year it will feature demonstrations for both specialty crops and row crops.

Last year’s field day took place at PrairiErth Farm in Atlanta, IL and was a resounding success. The Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day is an ideal opportunity for farmers to learn about weeding tools, equipment, and techniques, including precision guidance. This year’s event will continue the strong focus on vegetable and specialty-crop machines, but new this year is a row-crop section – with its own weeding tool companies, round-table topics, and field demonstrations using 6-row machines.

A Walkthrough of the Field Day

The morning Expo period provides opportunities to see weeding tools from more than 10 companies and to mingle with everyone in attendance. University weed scientists from surrounding states will be there to share their research and experienced farmers will be moderating round-table discussions on various topics. Walk-Behind Alley will feature demonstrations of walk-behind tractors and implements both new and tried and true. You can also visit exhibit booths for other companies in allied trades such as farm-service and soil amendments.

At noon, the field day will break for lunch, which is an opportunity for farmers to break bread together or to continue looking at equipment and speaking with exhibitors. In the afternoon, attendees will follow the tractors out to the demonstration field, where corn, beets, and broccoli have been planted especially for the demonstrations. Myriad cultivators and cultivating tractors will be demonstrated in the field and explained by manufacturers. These demonstrations will show how the machines should be mounted and properly adjusted, and will help farmers visualize how the implements can work on their own farms to increase efficiency and productivity.

Demonstrated Equipment

Row-crop tools in the demonstration include the Treffler Harrow, Einbock Harrow, KULT-Kress 6-row cultivator with finger weeders and camera guidance, Einbock Chop-Star cultivator with camera guidance, Buffalo Cultivator with slide-hitch, among others. Demonstrations will be held in 5’’ corn.

Vegetable tools include the Tilmor Tractor and their basket weeder, parallel-unit cultivator and other tools, Steketee parallel units of side-knives and finger weeders mounted on the Franken-G, Treffler harrow, a variety of KULT-Kress belly-mounted and rear-mounted steerable tools, Mechanical Transplanter with their planting machine and plastic layer, as well as a variety of weeding machines brought to the field day from all over the Midwest by farmers in attendance.* And, for the first time in the US, you can see Japanese cultivators!