Weed Seed Destruction Technology with Dr. Breanne Tidemann

Dr. Breanne Tidemann is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based in Lacombe, Alberta. As a weed scientist, her job is to explore new and novel ways to manage weeds. Her focus is to research applied management strategies, weed biology and ecology, and screening for herbicide resistance. In this episode, Tidemann discusses the work she has been leading in Canada on the effectiveness of weed seed destruction technology including the use of mills and shares that this approach can be a very helpful tool in the toolbox especially in pulses.

“By and large, on the vast majority of weed species that have been tested in Canada and the United States, we're seeing greater than 95% control of what goes into those mills…There's the odd one here or there that's a little bit lower, but when I say it's a little bit lower, we're typically still talking greater than 80% control.” - Dr. Breanne Tidemann

Tideman shares the concern that at the end of the season the remaining weeds have managed to survive everything the farmer has put them through. They are therefore the fittest weeds that are the most difficult to get rid of. She proposes that rather than spreading those weed seeds all over the field with a combine we need to focus on destroying them. This process may not solve any weed problems for the crop you're harvesting, but it does start the weed management for the next year early and can have real impacts on future production. 

“So there's six main methods of harvest weed seed control. Some of them are things we would consider using in North America, like the weed seed destruction technology.…it's basically trying to turn the combine from a weed seed spreader into a weed seed predator” - Dr. Breanne Tidemann

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Breanne Tidemann a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based in Lacombe, Alberta
• Explore the value and purpose of research regarding harvest weed seed control especially as it relates to crops with limited herbicide options such as pulse crops
• Discover current methods and equipment that are effective for harvest weed seed control and are available in North America

Connect with Dr. Tidemann on Twitter @breannetidemann or visit her website here.

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.