Pulse and Wheat Growers Preparing for Dog Fennel

Wheat and pulse growers can access a new WSU publication to help them deal with and prevent mayweed chamomile, better known as dog fennel.

Researcher Drew Lyon said it is a pretty flower, but it can mean bad things for area crops.

“It can be rather obnoxious to deal with and it causes quite a bit of yield loss and harvest troubles, particularly in pulse crops. A little less so in spring wheat and even less in winter wheat, but it’s found in all the crops we grow here in the higher rainfall area.”

The invasive weed outcompetes the cash crop which results in the damage.

Lyon said it’s important to work on prevention over the full crop cycle.

“You can’t just rely on the herbicides, you have to have a good crop rotation and you have to do a good job controlling this weed throughout your crop rotation or you’re going to lose the battle.”

You can read the full article here and find more information on the WSU Small Grains website.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail krounce@cherrycreekradio.com.