Post-emergence herbicides are cost effective for vineyard floor management on the Central Coast

Bensen, T; Smith, J; Salm, D; Bettiga, L; Smith, R; Tourte, L

Post-emergence herbicides are cost effective for vineyard floor management on the Central Coast

Authors

Tiffany Bensen
Jason Smith
Daryl Salm
Larry Bettiga
Richard Smith
Laura Tourte

Authors Affiliations

T. Bensen is former Staff Research Associate, UCCE Monterey County; J. Smith and D. Salm are growers and managers, Valley Farm Management, Soledad, Calif; L. Tourte, R. Smith and L. Bettiga are Farm Advisors, UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE), Santa Cruz, Monterey and san Benito counties.

Publication Information

Hilgardia 62(1):19-23. DOI:10.3733/ca.v062n01p19. January 2008.

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Abstract

Central Coast growers are under increasing scrutiny and regulatory pressure to manage herbicide use because of their farmland's proximity to the Monterey Bay and National Marine Sanctuary. Vineyard floor management practices typically consist of a combination of weed control strategies, including herbicide use and cover crops. We evaluated nine combinations of vineyard floor management practices for their impacts on fruit yield, quality and costs. We found that compared to the grower standard, post-emergence herbicide treatments generally used smaller amounts of chemicals and were less costly, with similar yields and quality.

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