Any farmers who have dealt with weed control issues in their fields will want to put Dave Button on their radar. Over a span of six to seven years, Button, who owns a farm just east of Great Bend, has developed a two-part, hydraulic-powered weed control system known as the Row Shaver.
According to Button, the Row Shaver cleans weeds from between the rows of about any crop planted in traditional rows. The secondary function is to clean weed flowers and seed pods that extend about the crop canopy.
“The goal of our system is to reduce the production of herbicide-resistant weed seeds,” said Button.
He added that his system continues to evolve to address a gauntlet of issues farmers face with controlling weeds. “I wouldn’t say we’re finished in the development process,” Button said. “But we are almost ready for production.”
Button said the whole system control concept came about nearly seven years ago with the growing problem of herbicide-resistant weeds. “We had a field just south of our house where a 7-foot fig weed sprouted,” said Button. “I went out and sprayed it and literally poured chemicals on it and it didn’t even welt.”
At that point, Button started to explore creative solutions to address the problem of weeds that were growing increasingly resistant to herbicides.
“Rather than just sit around and wait for somebody else to come up with the next best thing, I decided to devise something that would work for farmers in western and eastern Kansas.”
Button soon discovered the weed control dilemma was not just a Kansas issue but was being confronted by farmers around the globe. “Farmers all over the world are having this problem and I’m just trying to be part of a global solution,” he said.
He described the Row Shaver as a long, tall, hydraulically-driven mower. “It’s designed to clean out the weeds between the rows,” he said. “As long as you cut them (weeds) off before the seeds are pollinated and become reproductive, they’ll just fall to the side and become trash.”
The Row Shaver only cleans up the weeds between rows of crops so a secondary device needed to be implemented to control weeds around the crop itself. “So we ended up designing what looks like a slim-downed combine header to go over the tops of the crops to rid the area of any weed stems that have grown over.”
Button reiterated that the entire premise is to eliminate herbicide-resistant seeds. “And reduce the seed bank,” he said. “In order to keep our GMO products working for several more years, we need to keep these weeds from multiplying and reduce their invasive potential.”
Breaking down the two functions of Row Shaver:
Part 1, the Row Shaver system - Rather than tilling/cultivating the soil to remove herbicide-resistant weeds and losing valuable soil moisture and crop yield, Button designed the mower to be mounted on the front of each row unit with an above-ground mowing width of 18 to 36 inches. “It depends on your optimal row width,” said Button. “We have integrated a hooded sprayer to allow the option of spraying very small weeds and grasses with selective herbicides that cannot be sprayed directly on a crop during the mowing process.”
He added that optional fertilizer tubes are installed to the back of the hooded sprayer to allow the Row Shaver to be used for side-dress fertilizer applications. “No-till and organic farm operators will be especially interested in our implement for its moisture and chemical saving characteristics,” he said.
Part 2, the Row Trimmer system - The Row Trimmer has been developed to control weed seed production on weeds growing within the crop rows. This acts as a “floating sickle bar” and operates above the crop canopy to remove seed pods, flowers and stems and reduces the number of resistant weed seeds from maturing and being viable seeds.
“A proof of concept unit was tested last summer and our demo unit is completed,” said Button. “It also has our quick attach mount on the front end of our high clearance sprayer.”
Button is a third-generation farmer and has managed his farm for 14 years having taken over for his father. “It seems like it’s been yesterday,” he said. “When I got out of college the family farm had enough land to support three families. But when it was passed down to the next generation, we were going to have to expand quite a bit.”
Button’s talent for mechanical innovation started before he took over his family farm. Prior to his days as a farmer, Button worked for three decades as an airplane mechanic and inspector for Cessna and Pratt & Whitney. He also served as a tech representative for Beechcraft. “I got to see a lot of the world working in aviation,” Button said. “But when my dad decided to retire from the farm, he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse so here I am farming again.”
