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Precision Placement of Corn Gluten Meal for Weed Control in Organic Vegetable Production
1C. L. Webber III, 2M. J. Taylor, 2J. W. Shrefler
1. South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory USDA, Agricultural Research Service Lane, Oklahoma
2. Wes Watkins Agriculture Research and Extension Center Oklahoma State University Lane, Oklahoma

Organic vegetable producers rank weeds as one of their most troublesome, time consuming, and costly production problems. As a result of the limited number of organically approved weed control herbicides, the precision placement of these materials increases their potential usefulness in organic production systems. As a non-selective preemergence or preplant-incorporated herbicide, corn gluten meal (CGM) inhibits root development; decreases shoot length, and reduces plant survival. The development of a mechanized application system for the precise placement of CGM will increase its use in organic vegetable production, especially in direct-seeded vegetables. Our research objective was to develop a mechanized method to uniformly apply CGM to the soil surface in either a solid (broadcast) or banded pattern. An applicator was constructed using a fertilizer box, rotating agitator blades, 12-volt motor, and fan shaped, gravity-fed, row banding applicators. The equipment was evaluated for the application of two CGM formulations (powdered and granulated), three application rates (250, 500, and 750 g m-2), and two application configurations (solid and banded). Field evaluations were conducted on 81-cm wide raised beds at Lane, OK. Differences between CGM formulations affected flow rate within, and between, application configurations. The feasibility of using equipment, rather than manual applications, to apply CGM to raised beds for organic weed control purposes was demonstrated. 

Keyword: Precision placement, corn gluten meal, organic, weed control, mechanization