Weed War -- County official says farmers gaining, but weather gives weeds advantage

McCOOK, Neb. -- A bettin' man would put his money on the weeds, and feel pretty confident doing it.

But don't discount the landowners; they're putting up a good fight.

"I think we're gaining," Bill Elliott, Red Willow County's weed control superintendent, told county commissioners Monday morning. "People seem to be trying harder," Elliott said. "Unfortunately, there's job security in the weed business."

It's the same thing in Red Willow County and across Nebraska, as it is year-after-year-after-year, "The fight's in favor of the weeds," Elliott said.

And the weather definitely isn't helping. Elliott said, "Last year, we gained on some and lost on some. It was a horrible year. And the best explanation I've got is the weather."

"Last year, the grass got so tall, you couldn't find the weeds, or the cow paths," Elliott said, explaining it was scary and dangerous taking a four-wheeler cross-country on a search to find, map and/or spray noxious weeds. And once the weeds outgrew the grass, they were really tenacious and the fight was on again.

Commission chairman Earl McNutt agreed, explaining that just when he thinks the county's getting Canada thistle under control, "it crops up in odd places." Elliott said, "Some patches just don't go away." What's spreading it, Elliott asks. Geese, deer, the wind, motor graders ...

"Used to be, the Canada was just in my neighborhood (southwest of McCook, west of the old District 8 schoolhouse), in the cornfields," Elliott said. "The last 10 years, just anywhere you go, you'll find it."

And invasive phragmites seems to be spreading. "We've got a few more places of phrag," Elliott said. "I have a feeling it's getting worse." He said he's heard there's money to spray it, but he wishes the Southwest Weed Management Area could be revived and take up the fight against phragmites and salt cedar on the Republican River in earnest again. Since its inception in 1996, the management area has had many very promising years in the battle for the Republican.

Phragmites has "an interesting root system," Elliott said, and, to the untrained eye, it's hard to tell the native phragmites from the invasive phragmites.

Elliott's also keeping an eye on hounds-tongue in his own county, which is on the state's "watch list," not a noxious weed yet. And, he admits, sericea lespedeza, a noxious weed and a long-lived perennial forb that aggressively invades grasslands, pastures, roadsides, drainage areas, fencerows and other disturbed areas, scares him. Commissioner Steve Downer said landowners in southeast Nebraska are battling lespedeza.

Elliott has hopes for the future. There's more awareness of weeds growing on CRP properties, and lots of land is changing hands, he said, "so we're getting better response against thistles."

Technology is also helping in the battle, he said. As he and a helper are traveling county roads or riding through pastures to identify stands of noxious weeds, GPS/GIS technology marks exact locations of invasive species and landowners' names. This data is added to aerial photos providing coverage of the county, helping to eliminate trips to the courthouse to dig through records of ownership there, Elliott said.

Elliott's report on Red Willow County's weed status and response is sent annually to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

Elliott said that once household hazardous collections are finished, probably by the end of April, he'll be ready to go at it again this spring and summer. He said his health is improving following colon surgery last year, and he's looking for reliable help for the summer. Contact him at (308) 345-4333 for more information about the position.

For its 2017 operations, Red Willow County's hazardous household waste collection and disposal program is applying for a $214,273 Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.

Commissioner Earl McNutt said he and Bill Elliott, the director of the HHW program, are looking for a second person to assist Elliott and train during spring collections and the subsequent disposal of waste items turned over to the county.

After Elliott's retirement some day, McNutt said, he wants the county's HHW program to continue. And, he said, he's sure the DEQ wants the program to continue, considering the investment (such as annual grant awards) the state has made in it since its inception in the late 1990s.