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Rain mixed blessing for county's farmers battling noxious weeds
McCOOK, Neb. — Farmers and ranchers don't like to cuss moisture. However, it'll be the snow of last winter and the rain of this spring that will fuel the growth of noxious weeds during the summer, threatening the economic and environmental quality of their land.
"We had an odd winter, and we've had quite a bit of rain this spring," Red Willow County commissioner Earl McNutt said Monday morning during the commissioners' weekly meeting. "All this moisture is fuel for weeds. If we ever get any consistently warm weather, (noxious) weeds will really take off."
At Monday morning's meeting, commissioners got a report card on the county's fight against noxious weeds from Timothy Stortz of Holdrege, an inspection specialist with the State of Nebraska Ag Department’s Bureau of Plant Industry. Stortz told commissioners the county has no significant problem with noxious weeds, partially because of the majority of responsible landowners' efforts to control them, but also because of the diligence of the county's weed superintendent. "Bill (Elliott) is a seasoned veteran," Stortz said. "He's been at this for … a long time."
Stortz said he conducted some routine once-a-year inspections in Red Willow County a couple weeks ago, and, unfortunately, some repeat offenders south of McCook still have some infestations of musk thistle. Some of these infestations were cleaned up in 2017 and 2018, Stortz said, but due to the weather and moisture last winter and this spring, they're returning this spring.
"It's important that Bill remind these landowners" of their legal responsibility to control the noxious weeds on their property, Stortz said. "It's been done," Elliott told Stortz and commissioners.
Stortz said that control of noxious weeds is rarely "a one-shot-and-it's-dead" situation. "If the plants goes to seed, they repopulate themselves," he said. Control requires diligence over time, he said.
Red Willow County earned a score of 3,206 out of a possible 3,400 points.
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Red Willow County has approximately 459,000 acres of land (in cropland, pasture/range, forest/woodland, wetlands and rights-of-way) on which Elliott is responsible for the identification of Nebraska's noxious weeds, infestation notification to owners and the enforcement of the state's noxious weed laws.
A county loses points in its report card when landowners don't control their weeds and/or because the county does not take the initiative and/or prosecute landowners who do not take responsibility for their own weed problems.
Elliott has the authority to issue "10-day notices" to landowners with identified infestations. After receiving a notice, a landowner has 10 days to spray the weeds. If, at the end of 10 days, he/she has taken no action, the county will spray or hire a firm to spray. The landowner then has two months to reimburse the county for the chemicals and labor, or the costs will be added to the landowner's tax bill.
Elliott told commissioners he has already mailed seven notices this spring.
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Elliott, Stortz and commissioners also discussed herbicides effective on red cedar trees (spraying and/or injecting); and a herbicide that, Elliott said, kills the ground but not the thistles. A pill for soap weeds is expensive, Elliott said, but it works. Soap weeds are not noxious, but their overgrowth can become obnoxious.
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Nebraska's noxious weeds are: Canada, musk and plumeless thistles; saltcedar; purple loosestrife; phragmites; leafy spurge; spotted and diffuse knapweeds; Japanese knotweed; and sericea lespedeza.
A "noxious" weed in Nebraska is one that is designated by the Department of Agriculture as harmful to the environment or injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats, ecosystems, humans, livestock and/or wildlife.
A noxious weed causes damage that has considerable environmental and economic impact. A noxious weed can form dense monocultures (such as phragmites), reducing the growth of desirable plants. Many noxious weeds, such as saltcedar, are water-guzzlers and rob water sources from desirable plants. They also release toxins that inhibit the growth of nearby plants.
Weeds that are labeled noxious, in general, are invasive, competitive and, because they may be non-native, they have no natural enemies to limit their reproduction and spread.