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Joe Newton

JT Farms, Colorado

Taming the Palmer Amaranth

Joe Newton is a dry edible bean farmer in Colorado.

The Palmer Amaranth can get up over 6 feet tall around harvest time if they’re not controlled properly, and it makes the harvesting process extremely difficult. Joe Newton considers the amaranth his “nemesis.” 

It’s important to control the amaranth early, as soon as it’s identified. To do this with a large ground rig would require expensive equipment, and a lot of time and labor to run the equipment. Another way to try and control the Palmer is to hire someone to do an aerial application — and every day that’s delayed waiting for the aerial application means you’re losing effectiveness of the control.

The Economical Way to Treat Nuisances

“To control the Palmer, we use an Agri-Inject chemigation unit with Eptam. It takes about an hour to set up for a 36 to 48-hour circle. It’s a standard operating procedure at our farm to come back and check after 90 minutes. If the unit is pumping correctly, we’re comfortable that we’re good to go. The other alternative to doing this would be a large ground rig — a $400,000 applicator with all the backup equipment and a guy to run it.” 

Joe is one of Agri-Inject’s biggest evangelists and earliest customers. He’s been using an Agri-Inject system for his operation since the middle 1980s!

“It became clear to me at that time that this method of application was very effective, and I’ve been using them consistently since then. They’re very convenient. They’re very accurate. And Agri-Inject’s done a great job to make this a very simple, easy process.” 

For all the convenience and cutting-edge technology, Agri-Inject systems are still very easy to calibrate and use. 

“The thing I hear mostly from my peers in the industry is that they’re somewhat concerned about the failures or complications with the chemigation unit. I can reassure you that it’s not that complex. I would encourage people to try it. You’re not going to know how easy it is until you do it.”