The Finnish trial in Ruuki was carried out on a three-year old grassland that was harvested once in June and then managed in five different ways. The different sites were:
1) control site 2) Kvickfinn-cultivator plus a first run with a spade roller harrow 3) Kvickfinn cultivator 4) Tine cultivator 5) Spade roller harrow 6) repeated trimming.
All sites were ploughed in the spring year two before sowing spring cereals crops.
In average, the quackgrass decreased by 95 percent in the site processed with Kvickfinn the year before harvesting spring cereals. Only 5% of the weeds survived compared to the control surface without fallow. In addition, the yield increased in all the processed sites by 1 tonne of spring grains per hectare compared to the control surface.
Kristina Sigfridsson, Hushållningssällskapet Norrbotten-Västerbotten, comments on the trial results in the report.
“A shorter fallow when finishing grassland allows for a one harvest and is resource efficient compared to a longer fallow. The strategy had good effect on quackgrass and resulted in higher yield in Finnish experiments on organic soils. Since the roots of the quackgrass grow quite close to the surface, cultivation should take place before plowing. One of the advantages of Kvickfinn is that the roots of the quackgrass are placed on the surface and dry out and die.
You can find the report here (in Swedish only)
