Roller Crimper Tested at Rock Springs Trials

CHRIS TORRES
Staff Writer

ROCK SPRINGS, Pa. — This year’s weed control tour at Penn State’s Rock Springs Research Farm featured a new tool designed to roll down cover crops and suppress weeds.

Ruth Mick, a graduate student at Penn State and other researchers have been working on using a roller crimper in no-till plots.

The project started last August through a partnership between Penn State, the Rodale Institute and two farmers from Maryland and New York.

In no-till systems, cover crops such as rye and hairy vetch are planted in the fall and winter. They are effective in helping maintain soil structure and nutrients.

Taking them off, though, is not a simple task. Many no-till farmers use herbicides to kill the cover crops.

With the roller crimper, Mick said one distinct disadvantage they have had in trials is having to delay crop plantings into later in the season. One planting occurred on May 10 while the other was on May 20.

But using the machine, she said, is a good way to keep weeds down while providing a uniform surface for excellent no-till planting.

“It’s more of a way of managing all of that biomass,” Mick said.

She used the machine by rolling it perpendicular to rye plantings at test plots at the Rock Springs site. They also used a herbicide post application.

Mick said this was the first time a roller crimper had been used at the Rock Springs site. The machine itself has been used in South America and in other parts of the U.S.

Results of using the roller crimper will be available in the fall. Researchers will also reveal how the roller crimper performed on organic plots.

The tour also highlighted the performance of various herbicide and pesticide combinations in corn, soybeans, and potato and pumpkin plantings.

Overall, according to Bill Curran, professor of weed science at Penn State, there was more of an emphasis on no-till operations in this year’s tour to keep in line with increasing demand for the farming method. “I think there is a resurgence in no-till,” Curran said.

Extension Educator Dwight Lingenfelter, who supervised the new crop plots, said herbicide resistance has been his chief concern thus far. Other than that, there have been no big surprises. He said the purpose of the new plots is to have a better understanding of what’s available on the market in terms of herbicides and pesticides and what combinations can be most effective.

For complete test plot results, contact Curran at Penn State.