USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service has awarded a $50,500 grant to the Propane Education and Research Council and the University of Nebraska to study weed flaming.

The Conservation Innovation Grant will focus on the effectiveness of flame weed control and its potential to reduce soil erosion better than conventional tillage.

NRCS provides grants to organizations that will develop or use innovative tools to solve environmental problems affecting agriculture. PERC already supports several UNL projects that are examining propane-fueled devices that use heat to control weeds.

"We are honored and excited to work with PERC to implement this grant from NRCS," says Stevan Knezevic, UNL integrated weed management specialist in Concord.

During the two-year project, Knezevic will work with Nebraska producers to test propane-fueled flame weed applications on three crops - corn, soybeans and sorghum. Test fields will be split in two, with half for tillage and half for flaming.

Mark Leitman, PERC director of agriculture programs, says that, unlike chemical weed control, weed flaming cannot be compromised by rainfall and weeds cannot build up resistance to flame.