Musk thistle loves rain, too

A musk thistle hides under the low branches of an evergreen. It is the duty of every landowner to control noxious weeds -- like musk thistle -- that compete with pastureland and crops, and may be poisonous or injurious to man, livestock and wildlife. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

A landowner's arch enemy -- musk thistle -- has just been waiting for a warm spring, -- long days of sunshine and lots of rain.

"We've got five years of thistle germinating in this rain," Red Willow County Commissioner Steve Downer said during a commissioners' meeting Monday morning.

Downer, fellow commissioners Leigh Hoyt and Earl McNutt and the county's weed control specialist Bill Elliott discussed thistle control and the results of five 10-day spray notices that Elliott has mailed already this spring.

Three notices were sent to landowners in the Perry Precinct, one in Lebanon and one in Gerver.

Elliott told commissioners that four of the landowners who received the notices have sprayed or are spraying. "I've got one (of the five landowners) to check on today, and more notices to send," Elliott said.

Elliott said he appreciates the efforts of landowners who are spraying their noxious weeds. "I don't know how people are getting this done," he said. "If the wind's not blowing, it's pouring rain."

Downer said he's noticed musk thistle growing in the most inaccessible places, "where it's hard to get at -- in deep canyons, gullies, side pockets."

Elliott said he's noticed progress. "We've got some new spots," he said, "but there are some places that have been horrible that are looking pretty good." He added, "We've got lots of landowners working on it."