02/14/07 Diverse weed control

Diverse Weed Control Weeds can be nasty little critters, but luckily, more control methods are proving worthwhile. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to tell you how weeds can be beat. Recently I told you how a researcher at the University of Idaho is working to develop a control of spotted knapweed using a fungus. This is one of the newer ideas that might work better than just herbicide control. More and more diverse weed control methods are proving worthwhile to help alleviate the high cost of herbicide products and application. I just read a series of articles in the beef producer section of Wallaces Farmer magazine that talked about weed control in grazing lands. Some controls are relatively newer ideas such as introducing insect pests that feed on weeds and some methods are older, but used in a different manner. Weed and weed control ideas are as diverse and different as the landscape and pastures that ranchers use to raise livestock. One Wyoming cattle ranching family was losing the battle to leafy surge until they discovered sheep were a more effective control of that weed than all the expensive herbicides they were using. Now sheep, predatory insects, and better grazing management are winning the weed war on this Wyoming ranch. In Throckmorton, Texas the problem weed, prickly pear cactus, is being controlled with an old method---fire. Ranchers and researchers have found using fire later in the summer rather than early spring produces significantly better control. Sometimes an old stand-by just needs a new twist. I'm Jeff Keane. Wallaces Farmer January 2007