Changes may be made to LAP
New invaders in SW North Dakota A change in state law will soon allow weed boards to decide whether they will continue accepting in-kind matches from landowners utilizing the Landowner Assistance Program.
A change in state law will soon allow weed boards to decide whether they will continue accepting in-kind matches from landowners utilizing the Landowner Assistance Program.
The change was implemented due to a bill brought to the Legislature by the North Dakota Weed Control Association.
The bill has passed in the House and Senate and is waiting the governor’s signature, said Rachel Seifert-Spilde noxious weeds specialist for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture in Bismarck.
The LAP is a legislatively funded noxious weed cost-share program.
Law requires that a landowner contribute a minimum of 20 percent toward the total cost for noxious weed control being expended on their behalf and allows landowners to choose whether they want to fulfill the 20 percent requirement in cash or through in-kind means.
“The LAP is good for the landowners, their neighbors and the county,” said Bowman County’s new weed officer Randy Gaebe. “It reduces financial burden on landowners, reduces work for the county because the landowners are doing the work, and helps stop the spread of weeds in the county.”
Some weeds to watch for this year are Canada thistle, leafy spurge, marsh south thistle, absinth wormwood, wild oats, pidgeon grass, kosha, Russian thistle and buckwheat, said Dickinson resident and Helena Chemical sales representative Edward Cuskelly.
Some new invaders in Bowman County include baby’s breath, black henbane and hounds tongue, Gaebe said.
In Stark there are reports of purple looseleaf, Russian knapweed, and salt cedar, Stark County weed board member Daryl Zarak of South Heart said.
“I can’t speak for other counties, but the reason for the new weeds in Stark County are that they are being brought into the area by wind, wildlife, the Heart River and the railroad,” Zarak said.
“They are a concern because they are not native, which means they do not have natural pests or predators, so we really have to fight them.”
Gaebe said weeds are a nuisance because they rob moisture from more beneficial plants like grasses and crops.
“Animals need good hay and forage and farmers want nice crops and pasture land and the only way to ensure that is by practicing good weed control,” Gaebe said.
In North Dakota weeds are controlled through herbicides such as Milestone, Tordon, Plateau, 24D and through biological measures (sheep or goat grazing and bugs), Gaebe said.
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