Noxious Weed Prevention - by AThompson special invited writer

Upper Niobrara White NRD Conservation Festival

The PRIDE group once again hosted a booth at the Conservation Festival in Chadron, where students from Dawes and Sheridan Counties were able to learn about water, soil, recycling, weeds and other natural resource issues. At the “Weed Watchers” booth, students played the “Musical Weeds Game” to learn about prevention, spread, and control of noxious and invasive weeds. They also were able to spend time with Gretyl to learn about controlling noxious weeds by grazing with goats. PRIDE enjoys this opportunity to teach the areas future Habitat Heroes.

Sheridan County Adds 2 Weeds to County Noxious Weed List

Sheridan County Adds 2 Weeds to County Noxious Weed List.

• Due to the increase in number of acres infested, and the increase of the severity of infestations, the Sheridan County Weed Control Authority recently took action to add Houndstongue and Scotch thistle as noxious weeds. Greg Ibach, Director of the Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture approved the request on July 20, 2009 after receipt of all the necessary steps according to the Nebraska Noxious Weed Act. Houndstongue, a biennial originating from Europe invades many areas in northwestern Sheridan County, but is on the move as its Velcro-like seeds stick to animals, clothing, tires, etc, and easily spread to new locations. Houndstongue spreads only by seeds, so if you can prevent it from flowering and setting seed, you can control it on your property.
  
  Control methods:
• Grazing: If intensively grazed, goats will eat the houndstongue at any stage.
• Biological Control (insects): There is no biological control yet approved for houndstongue in the United States.
• Herbicide Control: Robert Wilson of the University of Nebraska Panhandle Station recommends 1 ounce per acre of Cimmaron Plus, with an added surfactant. Other products recommended in the UNL EC-130 Guide for Weed Management. Scotch thistle is also a biennial, which means it spreads only be seeds. It was brought to the US from Eurasia, and continues to invade several Panhandle counties. In Sheridan County, it has increased in areas in Gordon, north of Rushville, in and around Hay Springs, as well as down around the Antioch area. This thistle which reaches 5-7 feet tall produces as many as 500,000 seeds per plant. Once it goes to seed, you will have your hands full for many years trying to keep it under control.
  
  Control methods:
• Chopping or mowing: Must be done before bloom stage to prevent seeding. One bit of caution regarding Scotch thistle…if it is blooming, and you simply cut the plants off and leave them lay, they have enough energy stored in the plant to produce viable seed.
• Grazing is an option, but must be done before the plant is knee high, in the rosette stage.
• Biological control: Currently there are no bio-control insects available to be shipped for Scotch thistle.
• Herbicide: Refer to the UNL EC-130 Guide for Weed Management for recommendations. Using herbicides in the fall at the rosette stage will provide excellent control, providing you spray every rosette out there!
  
  For both houndstongue and Scotch thistle, if you diligently spray the rosettes this fall, you will prevent having plants that bloom and seed next year. Control of these two noxious weeds is not difficult. Getting all landowners on board to fight these two invaders is the biggest battle, and by adding the weeds to the “county added” noxious weed list, it is now the law that in addition to all Nebraska noxious weeds, Sheridan County homeowners and landowners control all three “county added” noxious weeds; houndstongue, Scotch thistle and field bindweed, which was added in 1976.

Your Trash is NOT My Treasure

When you are out in the yard and pull several bindweed vines out of your flower bed, where do you dispose of them? In the brown trash dumpster? Or in the green “leaves and grass” dumpster? Unfortunately, many people put any plant material, including weeds and seeds, in the green dumpsters.

Did you know that the contents of the green dumpsters are put into the compost pile at the local solid waste agency? Did you know that this compost is in turn made available for other folks to use in their garden or yard? Everyone can help to make sure that noxious weeds are not spread through compost. The trash put in the brown dumpster is hauled off, baled, and buried within 48 hours. ALL noxious weeds and seeds should be thrown into the brown dumpsters!

The PRIDE Weed Management Area group will be putting stickers on the green dumpsters to remind folks NOT to place noxious weeds or seeds in the these dumpsters. This project is part of a grant project with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. The next time you pull or chop noxious weeds, please think about which dumpster you place them in. You can prevent spreading noxious weeds to your neighbors or other landowners. The Golden Rule applies here – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.