The temperatures are turning slightly colder but the No-Till Farmer message board, Farmer’s Forum, is starting to heat up. This month no-tillers tapped away at their keyboards and started discussions about ridding their fields of volunteer trees, powering their no-till planters and many more hot topics within the no-tilling world.

Don’t be shy. If you have any no-tilling concerns or are interested in helping your fellow no-tillers, hop on our Web site, www.no-tillfarmer.com and click on the Farmer’s Forum icon to interact with no-tillers just like yourself.

Volunteer Issues

I have been no-tilling for 12 years with a corn and soybean rotation. I’m having a problem with volunteer trees in the field — mostly locust trees, but I have seen other species as well. I tried using Tordon after I cut down the volunteer trees but it doesn’t always help. This year all the Tordon seemed to do was kill the plant growth on the ground around the treated area, but not all of the trees.

—Jim, jec@plattevalley.net

I use Spike. It is granular but it will spoil the ground around the tree if you use too much. A chemical representative told me that he successfully used Roundup to kill saplings.

—James

Check this site as they list several herbicides made to work on various woody plants and trees — www.forestry-suppliers.com/ search.asp.

—John W

I have faced the same problems. I also cut the trees and put a little Tordon on the stumps. Coincidentally, that was the same year I…