How electric weed control can help growers manage resistant weeds, improve harvest efficiency and evaluate another option for next season
Late-season weeds can tell growers a great deal about what worked—and what did not—during the growing season.
When weeds survive a carefully planned herbicide program, interfere with harvest or return year after year, it may be time to consider another approach. One option gaining renewed attention is electric weed control.
The Lightning Weeder, developed by LASCO, uses high-voltage electrical energy to destroy weeds from the inside out. Through on-farm demonstrations and rentals, growers can evaluate the technology under their own operating conditions before deciding whether it fits their operation.
Why Growers Are Looking Beyond Another Herbicide
For decades, growers facing difficult weeds have often responded with another herbicide application or a different chemistry. However, resistant weeds continue to complicate crop production, increase management costs and create challenges during harvest.
According to the International Herbicide-Resistant Weed Database, maintained by the Weed Science Society of America, herbicide resistance has become a worldwide agricultural challenge.
Herbicide Resistance at a Glance
- 548 documented cases of herbicide resistance
- 275 resistant weed species
- Resistance reported in 76 countries
- Resistance involving 168 different herbicides
As resistance spreads, weed scientists increasingly recommend integrated weed management: combining multiple practices instead of depending on a single method of control.
Electric weed control can become one of those tools. It is not intended to replace every existing practice. Instead, it can help growers address weeds that survive conventional programs and reduce their reliance on repeated herbicide applications.
How the Lightning Weeder® Works
The Lightning Weeder® directs high-voltage electrical energy through weeds that extend above the crop canopy.
The electrical energy generates heat inside the plant, converting its internal moisture into steam and destroying plant tissue throughout the stem and root system. Rather than simply burning the visible portion of the weed, the process disrupts the plant from the inside out.
Growers can often see the effects within minutes.
“The best example is to put somebody in a tractor and make a few rounds,” said Kevin Olson, President of LASCO. “When we turn around at the end of the field, the weeds we’ve treated are already dying. It’s basically instant gratification.”
A Proven Technology Returns to the Field
Electric weed control is not a new concept. The Lightning Weeder® was originally developed in the early 1980s for sugar beet production.
Today, many of the challenges that inspired the technology more than four decades ago have returned, including resistant weeds, difficult late-season escapes and harvest complications.
The technology is now attracting interest from conventional row crop, specialty crop and organic growers looking for additional ways to strengthen their weed-management programs.
Why Timing and Crop Height Matter
As with most weed-control practices, timing affects performance.
Younger weeds are generally easier to control. The target weeds must also extend above the crop canopy so the Lightning Weeder® can contact the weeds without contacting the crop.
Treating weeds before they mature may help growers:
- Control late-season weed escapes
- Improve harvest efficiency
- Protect crop quality
- Reduce weed-seed production
- Limit future weed pressure
Understanding the crop, target weeds and appropriate treatment window is an important part of evaluating whether electric weed control is suitable for a particular field.
Could Electric Weed Control Fit Your Operation?
Before deciding whether to add electric weed control to your management program, consider:
- Which weeds are escaping your current program?
- Are those weeds resistant or becoming more difficult to control?
- Do the target weeds extend above the crop canopy?
- Are late-season escapes slowing or complicating harvest?
- Could reducing seed production help limit future weed pressure?
- Would an on-farm demonstration help you evaluate the technology?
The answers can help determine where electric weed control may provide the greatest value.
Test It on Your Own Acres
New equipment should be evaluated where it will actually be used.
LASCO offers on-farm demonstrations and a rental program that allows growers to mount the Lightning Weeder® on their own tractor and operate it under real field conditions. This gives producers an opportunity to evaluate its performance against their own crops, target weeds and operating requirements.
“I’ve had growers tell me they saw a three- to five-ton yield difference after using the Lightning Weeder,” Olson said. “The return on investment can be very, very quick. We bring the machine out, set it up on their tractor and let them run their own acres.”
A field demonstration can help growers assess performance before making a purchasing decision and determine how the equipment could fit within their broader weed-management strategy.
See What Electricity Can Do in Your Field
As harvest approaches, growers begin evaluating what worked, what fell short and what should change next season.
For farms facing resistant weeds or difficult late-season escapes, electric weed control may offer a practical addition to an integrated weed-management program.
A demonstration allows you to evaluate the Lightning Weeder® where its performance matters most—on your crops, against your weed pressure and under your field conditions.
To learn more or request an on-farm demonstration or rental, contact Kevin Olson at lasco@arvig.org.