Looking to weed out weeds

Growth, wet spring cited in noxious weed proliferation

GRANT COUNTY — In vacant lots. In otherwise empty fields. Leaning against irrigated land. Noxious weeds are popping up everywhere in the Columbia Basin.

With continued population growth, and the wet spring farmers in the Columbia Basin have seen, some of those plants are infesting Grant County a little harder than they have in previous years. The weeds are one reason inspectors with the Noxious Weed Control Board of Grant County spend their days patrolling rural and urban roads, seeking out the weeds which could pose a problem to all property owners.

Dan Stout is a consultant for the noxious weed control board, and said defiant weeds like kochia are hard to control, invading farmland and jeopardizing crops planned for export. But Stout said weeds like kochia weren't always the problem child they are now.

"Most noxious weeds that we fight were at one point in time ornamental," he said, noting the weeds can also be brought in by birds and water, among other methods. Stout said the noxious weed control board isn't trying to eradicate the weeds, but control them so they don't become a burden.

Kochia is among a number of weeds which have been prolific this year. Weeds like knapweed, rush skeleton weed, Russian thistle and a slew of others have also been growing throughout Grant County this year.

In southern Grant County, the noxious weed control board is seeking state and federal funds to combat a weed called salt cedar along the Columbia River. The noxious weed control board took a number of area legislators on a tour of the area earlier this month to show them a snapshot of the problem.

"I think the excess moisture that we had this spring has moved the weeds a little quicker," said noxious weed control board consultant/inspector Harvey Erickson.

A cool spring with lots of moisture, Stout said, has allowed annual, seed-producing weeds to take off. Weeds like kochia, an annual and prolific seed producer which can grow to heights of seven feet tall, have taken off particularly in the vacant lots inside Moses Lake.

Erickson said he has seen early noxious weed growth across the board. While not a new weed, Erickson said kochia's ability to tumble and spread across the county allows it to spread its thousands of seeds through the wind to countless farms and homes.

"Kochia could be on the march to be one of the worst weeds for the Basin," Erickson said, noting it not only can take over farms but sidewalks and alleyways as well.

When growing strong, the weed can cause concern for local fire crews who have stated worries about the potential for grass fires from weeds like kochia and cheatgrass.

Spraying for kochia does curb the weed, but Stout said landowners must get to the weed when it is small in order to spray with chemicals like Roundup. Stronger chemicals are needed as the weeds mature. To combat current weed problems, the county contracts for spraying services throughout Grant County, in which 2,600 miles of roadway are sprayed each year.

But the sprays are a band aid, Stout said, and the weeds will likely make a return.

"It's like having a car," Stout said of weeds. "You have to put a certain amount of money into maintenance."

The noxious weed control board weed board began in the 1980s as a sort of maintenance, a need for preventative measures for Columbia Basin farmers needing to control the weeds infesting their crops. But noxious weeds reared their leaves and thistles long before the first board formed, and came with the first farmers and when the first water was brought to area farms.

Stout and Erickson serve as two of four consultants for the noxious weed control board. Stout has been with the noxious weed control board for the last 10 years, and spends his days trying to steer landowners into spraying and controlling weeds on their property. The Warden native knows many of the landowners in his coverage area surrounding Moses Lake, and said most weed issues can be taken care of with a phone call to landowners notifying them of their problem.

Some weed problems also require a certified mailing notifying them of the issue. Inside the city, Stout coordinates with code enforcement officers who too may be on the lookout for overgrown weeds.

Weeds like kochia appear most often on a piece of ground which has been excavated or previously planted, but does not have a current planting. Dry ground which has been untouched doesn't pose as much of a problem, but Stout said nature will fill the gap with some sort of planting if that ground has been previously disturbed.

For Stout, the key to controlling noxious weeds is for landowners to plant a crop or weed which will compete with the noxious ones. The best thing for landowners to do is fill the void of a weed with a plant landowners do want.

"I don't care if they spray, mow or put goats on it," Stout joked, "As long as they keep it from going to seed."