In my opinion, a 'showcase farm' does not necessarily need to show off chemical usage.  While looking trim may be great for the human eye or someone's expectations, the chemicals are not good for mother earth, the animals or for the bees for that matter.
 
Think about the ecological impact of spraying a deadly 4-6 inch strip around avery building, tree or other object you do not want to hit with your mower.  It is not minimal.  The insects poisoned either poison the whole food chain from a low level or die, thus affecting the food chain in another, equally negative way.
 
I would love to see a 'showcase farm' such as yours showcase techniques for land management that are not dereterious to any living thing, including grasses and weeds.  Have you heard of permaculture?  You might want to look into some low tech, low impact, low maintenance techniques that actually turn problems into advantages.  Why not try some techniques such as planting green manure crops and/or stacking crops?  We also have a farm; total 400+ acres, although much in woodlands.  About 170 acres in pasture/orchard/garden etc - higher maintenance than trees.  Have just recently introduced bees to a field planted in clover and established nut trees.  We run goats in there to control overgrowth (Kudzu is our big thing).  This is an example of stacking, and so far so good.
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Does "neat and trim" really weigh in as more important than 'alive'?  I don't want rot, and it is real humid here so that is a concern for us, but I don't think roundup (read death) is the best alternative...