Controlling Rangeland weeds

Controlling Rangeland weeds

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Controlling weeds. I spoke with Natural Resources Specialist Kent McAdoo at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension about a variety of tools that can be used to control invasive and noxious weeds such as cheat grass. I was interested to find out that one of the tools in the toolbox is actually cattle. But that wasn’t all. “A study resulted in finding that there was a significant reduction both in cheat grass density and in cheat grass cover out there in the landscape as well as in the residual seeds in the soil. So if they are used as a tool, they can be very effective in reducing cheat grass. That is one tool but there are certainly other tools. Livestock is not always the best tool for getting rid of noxious weeds. Sometimes herbicides are used. Sometimes it is a compliment of methods. Perhaps mechanical methods, herbicides, biological controls and other things. So we need a more holistic view of what is needed to reduce weeds in any given situation. Any noxious weed, deemed the noxious by the state, is by its very definition invasive. There are other invasive weeds out there that are not in the noxious category and, interestingly, cheat grass is one of those. That is because it is so pervasive in the environment that it is not worth listing as invasive. Is marijuana a noxious weed? (Laughter) I don’t know what the status is but it is hazardous to your health. “
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