Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
An experiment to investigate tillage practices for producing safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and controlling weeds was conducted from 1963 to 1965. Three tillage intensities designated excessive, moderate, and minimum, depending on the number and kind of tillage operations performed prior to planting, were used. Three different tillage tools used as the primary implement in preparing the seedbed were sweep machine, oneway, and moldboard plow.
Excessive, moderate, and minimum tillage plots averaged 342, 374, and 413 lb/A of safflower and 72, 73, and 63 lb/A of weeds, respectively. The sweep machine plots produced the highest safflower yields and lowest weed yields at all intensities with the oneway and moldboard plow about the same. Yields produced from the best treatments in the experiment (minimum tillage with the sweep machine and seeding with the shoe drill) averaged approximately 300 lb/A more than commercial fields and weed control was effective.