The Place to Connect

The 2026 Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day is coming back to Michigan!

Online registration closes September 9th. On-site registration is welcome, but lunch is not guaranteed.

What you can expect at this awesome event:

At the morning Expo/trade show you’ll see weeding tools and speak with company reps from manufacturers in the US, Europe, and Japan; connect with suppliers and buyers; and meet the farmers in attendance from all over the region. At the morning education sessions you’ll learn from experienced farmers and experts.

At noon, the field day will break for lunch – an opportunity to network, or continue looking at trade show equipment and speaking with exhibitors. In the afternoon farmers follow the tractors out to the demonstration fields, where corn, beets, and brassicas have been planted especially for the demonstrations. The field demos are the heart of this event, and MANY cultivation tools of all scales for row crops and vegetables will be demonstrated by company reps. Everything from camera-guided, to autonomous robots, to belly-mounted cultivators and cultivating tractors will be demonstrated in the field and explained by manufacturers. Participants are split into small groups for quality demo. These demonstrations will show how the machines should be mounted and properly adjusted according to crop and soil conditions, and will help farmers visualize how the implements can work on their own farms.

This event is perfect for farmers and ag advisors who want to: see a particular weeding tool before buying it, learn how to adjust cultivators, see what is new in cultivation, and learn from other farmers.

OPPORTUNITY FOR ILLINOIS AND INDIANA FARMERS! The Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) exists to provide technical assistance and wrap-around support for transitioning and existing organic farmers and has provided funding to cover admission for the first 50 Illinois & 50 Indiana farmers interested in attending this year’s event. Illinois farmers please use the coupon code ILLINOIS26, and Indiana farmers please use the coupon code INDIANA26 when registering (only 50 spots available under each code). Thank you TOPP!

Field Demonstrations include:

Walk Behind/Hand Tools
Tilmor Power Ox 2-Wheel Tractor
Tilmor Agrarian Electric 2-Wheel Tractor
Terratek E-Weedmaster Electric 2-Wheel Tractor
Johnny’s Seeds Terratek Wheel Hoe
Johnny’s Seeds Assorted Precision Hoes
Wetterfrosch Farm Tools Sumisansui Irrigation
Zasso Walk-Behind Electric Weeder

Row Crop Tools
Salford Camera-Guided Cultivator
Hatzenbichler Camera-Guided Cultivator
Hatzenbichler Tine Weeder
Einbock Camera-Guided Cultivator
Treffler Tine Weeder
Garford Camera-Guided In-Row Cultivator
Bison Spyder Cultivator
Weed Zapper Electric Weeder
Einbock Tine Harrow

Vegetable Tools
Tilmor 520 Cultivating Tractor
Tilmor Super E Electric Tractor
Tilmor Basket Weeder
Tilmor Edge Of Plastic Cultivator
Tilmor Plastic Mulch Lifter
Tilmor Plastic Mulch Winder
Thiessen/Tilmor Parallel Linkages With Finger Weeders
KULT-Kress Parallel Linkages With Finger Weeders
Oggun II Tractor
John Deeer 900HC
IH Farmall Cub
Alice Chalmers G
Kennco High Clearance Tractors For Cultivating Staked Tomatoes
Treffler Tine Harrow
Ecorobotics Camera-Guided Precision Sprayer
Puehler Ag Co Camera-Guided In-Row Weeder
Cropline, Pioneer Horse Cultivation

Orchard Tools
Thiessen/Tilmor Orchard Weeder
Spedo Orchard Weeder
Burnips Berti Mulcher
Burnips Front-Mounted Flail Mower
Lanco Mulcher

Field Day Schedule:

8:00 to 8:45: Registration, Check-in, Coffee, and Trade Show Opens
8:00 to 1:00: Trade Show Open
9:00 to 9:15: Welcoming Remarks
10:30 to 11:10: Ed Session – Row Crop Stale Seedbedding
10:30 to 11:10: Ed Session – Vegetable Permanent Beds and Deep Compost
10:30 to 11:10: Ed Session – Orchard Floor Management
11:05 to 11:15: Walk and Wagon Transport to Walk Behind / Horse Plots
11:15 to 12:30: Walk Behind / Horse Alley
12:30 to 1:20: Lunch
1:35 to 1:45: Walk and Wagon Transport to Demo Plots
1:45 to 4:00: Field Demonstrations
4:00 to 4:15: CYOA Time
4:15 to 5:00: Ice-Cream, Evaluations, End of Field Day

Education Sessions:

Planting Timing and Pre-Plant Weed Control Strategies
Joel Layman, of JD Layman Farms Inc, will lead a discussion on the stale seedbed technique, and other ways to to flush and kill weeds over large acreages of grain.

At JD Layman Farms, Joel’s goal is to continually adapt and hone his skills to meet the challenges of organic growing. Equipment like shanks, tines, flames, and electric shocks are all used in his ever-changing craft of cultivation.

Getting Covered! Weed Control with Cover Crops, Compost Mulch, and Tarps
Farmers Chris DiCicco, of Sower’s Purse Microfarm, and Chad Anderson, of Green Wagon Farm have moved away from cultivation for weed management, and towards covered soil. They will lead a discussion on weed management by smothering weeds or preventing their emergence, including permanent beds, competitive cover crops, compost mulch, and tarps.

Sower’s Purse Microfarm LLC is a bio-intensive market farm offering hand grown, petro-chemical free produce, selling through CSA shares and on-farm sales.

Green Wagon Farm is a certified organic farm in Grand Rapids that offers seasonal and year-round CSA shares. They grow year-round in heated and unheated high tunnels. They controlled weeds for years through conventional tillage and cultivation tools, but have moved to permanent low-till beds and compost mulch for weed control.

Breaking Up with the Herbicide Strip: Making Mechanical Weed Control Work in Orchards
A practical discussion on non-herbicide approaches to orchard floor and weed management. Led by fruit grower Kyle Rasch and MSU Tree Fruit Extension Specialist Dan Dick. Using equipment on display at the field day, Kyle and Dan will discuss different approaches to mechanical weed control, including how the equipment operates, strengths and limitations of different strategies, orchard suitability, and practical considerations for growers interested in reducing reliance on herbicides. The informal format will allow participants to walk around the equipment and connect weed-management concepts directly with the implements being demonstrated later in the day.

Kyle is the director of Third Leaf Farm in Greenville, Michigan, a third-generation fruit farm located in the heart of Michigan apple country. Under Kyle’s direction, Third Leaf Farm has transitioned to Regenerative Organic production over the past 10 years. Kyle also serves as Vice President of the Michigan State Horticultural Society and provides mentorship to regenerative and organic farmers.

Online registration closes September 9th. On-site registration is welcome, but lunch is not guaranteed.

“This is a very well run event! The direct contact with customers at the trade show and ability to demonstrate machinery is perfect. The demos are very well run, and your rotation system gives farmers enough time to see each machine and learn from the rep.” – ‘25 Field Day Sponsor

“The field day was exactly what I needed, and worth driving from 3 hours away! I got to see most available types of the tine weeder I am interested in, and learned about them from multiple company reps, multiple field demos, and from talking to several farmers. I highly recommend this field day for beginning farmers and those looking to dial-in.” – ‘25 Field Day Attending Farmer

Come see these companies at the field day:

Trade Show Exhibitors: