Safer, Non-Selective Weed Control for Organic Growers and Home Consumer

Non-selective herbicides are used extensively by growers, home consumers, industrial and commercial end-users, with total use expanding every year. Although proper weed control is important for increased agricultural production, many of the common nonselective herbicides are either acute toxins and/or are suspected carcinogens or teratogens. Moreover, weed control methods for organic growers are very limited with current methods known to be inefficient, expensive and labor intensive. Summerdale, Inc. has identified synergistic combinations of fatty and selected organic acids, as candidate herbicides. The acids, common to many foods, are GRAS compounds and the formulations are stable and clearly superior to Scythe, one of the few safer choices as a non-selective herbicide, primarily used for landscaping and by the home consumer. Objectives include: 1) further development of fatty/organic acid herbicides containing only natural, environmentally-compatible ingredients and 2) evaluation of characteristics (cost/performance) and other advantages versus current products for weed control. A clear opportunity exists for rapid, safe alternatives having cost and performance characteristics competitive with current products for traditional and also for rapidly expanding organic markets. Several agricultural product companies have expressed interest. Since all formulation ingredients can be obtained from renewables, a USDA priority, Alternate and Renewable Energy, could be met.