Eliminate the early Weeds

"Train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it."


I stood in the corn field observing both the corn and the unsprayed weeds. Spots in the field contained heavy infestations of velvet leaf. This plant's seed is capable of maintaining viability in the soil for over fifty years. The velvet leaf plant is nearly as hard as wood when mature. Even in its infant stages, the corn displayed visible negative effects from the weeds.


During the past fifteen years, I often ponder the yield loss caused by these weeds growing with the young corn. We had no efficient way of measuring these scattered areas of heavy weed infestation.

• What defines a weed?
• A weed is simply a plant out of place!

The herbicide produces maximum results when applied within twenty-four hours of planting. However, the farmer's full schedule of planting and tending the livestock, prevented applying the herbicide before rain fell on the newly planted field.

Friday, I attended an agronomy seminar. In the past year, research quantification confirmed our hunches of the effects of small weeds on corn yield. A researcher, I do not recall his name, found that small, hard to see weeds use an average of 1.4 times the amount of nutrients in soil as the corn. These weeds also use three times the amount of soil-water as corn. In other words, these weeds rob soil nutrients and water from the corn thus reducing the yield and profit.

The weeds have an additional detrimental effects on the corn. For example, four or five days after corn emerges, the plants seek optimal photosynthesis. Corn plants physically rotate this one time to optimize their leaf angle and placement to maximize light absorption.

Research demonstrates that when weeds are present during this early stage of corn growth, the corn plant may rotate with its leaves more vertical, less horizontal, with the row. This permanently reduces the plants ability to absorb sunlight. Horizontal placement is optimal.

The corn yields (bushels per acre) are reduced five percent to ten percent from the loss of nutrients, water, and the sunlight effect on this young corn plant from growing weeds. Because these out of place plants' negative impact on the corn, herbicide applied on the field before the weeds emerge prevents the negative impact on the crop from weeds. 

What about you? Does an early morning negative attitude, thoughts out of place in your field of success, reduce your daily yield and productivity five percent to ten percent? Due to relatively new herbicide technology, some farmers now delay the cost, time, and money of eliminating early emerging weeds until about a month after the crop emerges. Unfortunately, a yield loss has already occurred!

• Do you avoid purifying your mind each morning due to the cost of time? Afterall, you will get "pumped up" later in the day.
• Is a five to ten percent increase in productivity worth arising an extra fifteen or thirty minutes earlier to spend time in the Word of God, the Bible?
• This eliminates the emergence of early weeds, negative thoughts, and assures optimizing your alignment to maximize absorption of His light.

Just as corn plants determine their yield affecting position soon after emerging, our positioning with God early in the day affects our yield in serving Him. Even though we can change our attitude, we have already suffered a loss in productivity.

We are all children of God, continually growing in our Relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• How are we training our mind early each day?
• Are we eliminating thoughts incongruent with scripture before they emerge each day?

Herbicides and Negativecides both require investments of our time and energy. The time in scripture, prayer, joy, and optimism at the beginning of each day and challenge will enhance your daily yields.

Are you positioning your hearts to maximize absorption the Light of World, Jesus Christ?

Make it a Great Day in Christ!
Rick
Rick E. Meyer