Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Weed Control Progress Report May 7, 2018 <br /> <br />Period from March 29 to May 7, 2018 submitted by Stan Wolf <br /> <br />New Business: <br /> <br />2019 Proposed Budget: The Auditor’s office has requested that department <br />2019 proposed budgets be submitted by July 16. At this point, no new <br />equipment purchases are expected and no changes in operational expenses are <br />foreseen. <br /> <br />Joint Powers Agreement: A one-year extension of the Joint Powers Agreement <br />between the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and Cass County Weed <br />Control was signed by the board chair prior to April 30 deadline, otherwise the <br />agreement would go into default. The JPA allows the Weed Board be the <br />agency for inspecting hay and crop lands for the Weed Seed Free Forage <br />program. Previously the board has assigned the inspection duties to the weed <br />officer. <br /> <br />Proposed Motion: Move to assign the weed officer to conduct the inspections for <br />Weed Seed Free Forage for Cass County Weed Control. <br /> <br />Drift Complaints: As has happened in the past, we receive calls from <br />landowners stating that our spray operations have affected their adjacent crops. <br />Many times, it appeared that the crop response might be due to dry conditions <br />and crop by environment interaction. The only way to determine if crop response <br />is due to herbicide drift is to conduct a tissue analysis. The cost of <br />tissue analysis for 2,4-D, dicamba and Tordon is ~ $150.00. <br /> <br />Proposed Motion: Move to approve tissue analysis of possible herbicide drift. <br /> <br />Biocontrol: A landowner is interested in biocontrol agents for Canada thistle in <br />his CRP pollinator mix planting. Integrated Weed Control publishes a catalog of <br />various biocontrol agents for sale. They have available the Canada thistle stem <br />mining weevil at $125.00 per release. Canadian research states that the <br />incidence of a fatal rust fungus disease was more than doubled when the insect <br />is present. I have expressed interest in receiving a release or two of CT rust if <br />available this fall. <br /> <br />Proposed Motion: Move to purchase a release of Canada thistle stem mining <br />weevils.