New Study Highlights Labor Savings from Rotational Herbicide Program
Graphic for Marengo herbicide use in the labor review. | Envu
Results from a recent Time Savings review, conducted by Mathers Environmental Science Services (MESS), show container growers can experience a significant reduction in labor costs associated with manual weed pulling when an herbicide from Envu is incorporated in a rotational preemergence herbicide program.
Utilizing previously published white papers citing the costs of hand-weeding (Case et al., 2005; Darden and Neal, 1999; Gilliam et al., 1990; Ingram et al., 2016 and 2017; Khamare et al., 2022), Mathers sought to understand the current costs of hand-weeding applications. The conclusion: Greenhouse growers and nurseries that do not use any preemergence herbicides and rely solely on hand-weeding can have labor costs ranging from $3,779 to $6,989 per acre per year, depending on nursery size and location. Using one application of herbicides, such as Marengo from Envu, can save growers up to 187 hours per acre of time spent manually pulling weeds. To read the full review, visit us.envu.com/ornamentals/weed-control or click here.
“187 hours per acre is a lot of time back in the grower’s business plan, especially during key times when sales are ramping up, like early spring,” says Janna Beckerman, Ph.D., Green Solutions Team Specialist at Envu. “We are encouraged to see the findings from the Mathers review. The one thing that is very clear is that growers need to incorporate a comprehensive rotational preemergence program to reduce costs associated with hand-weeding. We are not saying to use one product over another. We are saying use Marengo herbicide during a rotational preemergence program to prevent resistance breakthroughs for prolonged efficacy over the growing season.”
Methodology of the MESS Review
Mathers sought to understand the current costs of hand-weeding applications of container growers in the four largest nursery production states: California, Florida, Oregon, and Michigan. Each state represents different lengths of growing seasons: 24 weeks in Michigan, 36 weeks in California and northern Florida, and 40 weeks in southern Florida and California. Upon narrowing the growing locations, Mathers standardized labor costs for hand-weeding, utilizing H-2A labor costs as required by the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs). Many nursery container growers have reported utilizing the H-2A workers for labor-intensive activities, such as hand-weeding. Therefore, the AEWRs by state approximate as closely as possible an industry standard wage for hand-weeding.
Conclusions Reached on Herbicide Use and Weed Control
A good indicator of the optimal herbicide to utilize is the percentage of time saved versus total reliance on hand-pulling (i.e., untreated control). All four herbicides in 24-, 36-, and 40-week growing seasons provided significant savings over total reliance on hand-weeding. The review shows that any container grower still relying on hand-pulling as their primary form of weed control is spending at least 50% more than their fellow nursery growers, and compared to the three newer herbicides, 60% and 70% more. This is money saved for market expansion with closer control and more available cash to increase stock quality and thus sales.
“Marengo herbicide has a very low active ingredient loading and environmentally favorable properties, meaning the grower gets more bang for their buck,” says Steve Larson, Nursery and Greenhouse Specialist at Envu. “The greatest cost in nursery weed control is the cost of neglect. We are challenging growers to calculate the savings that Marengo herbicide can have in their operation. The calculator is another tool to empower purchasers to make the best decision to grow a strong business and healthy ornamentals.”
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