2021 Spring Farm

Page 18 2021 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 18, 2021 • Chemical treatments on woody invasive plants should not be applied after bud swell/ bud break until the plants have reached full leaf expansion. • Foliar chemical treatments should be applied to healthy, green, actively growing foliage. When the foliage starts to turn its fall color, then foliar treatments are not effective. Unfortunately, only a small number of invasive plants and noxious weeds are regulated by the Noxious Weed Act intended to protect agricultural productivity. Therefore, regulations do not always address the problem. An AgWeb article on vigorous weeds and lethargic regulations says, “Invasive weeds like Palmer Amaranth or other weeds escaping regulation at the federal or state level have the potential to devastate agricultural production and native ecosystems.” The article also says, “Farmers well know that regulation is not the only answer. But in the face of herbicide resistant weeds such as Palmer and the growing list of other species, it is important to explore alternative management practices and the potential for cooperative arrangements with community stakeholders to protect their land.” In public and private partnerships, farmers, landowners and businesses may need to work together to alleviate problems with invasive plants and protect land. Though it may be difficult to completely alleviate the problems caused by invasive plants, implementing multiple methods for controlling them can hopefully reduce and minimize their impact to crops. [Angela Reiners] Resources Bethe, Tricia, Christopher Evans, and Karla Gage. Management of Invasive Plants and Pests of Illinois. https://extension.illinois . edu/sites/default/files/management_of_ invasive_plants_and_pests_of_illinois.pdf Schlessinger, Lisa and A. Bryan Endres. “Illinois Invasive Weed Species Cost Farmers and Threaten Native Plants, 25 June 2016, https://agfax.com/2016/06/25/illinois- invasive-weed-species-cost-farmers-and- threaten-native-plants/ United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. “Invasive Plants.” https:// www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/invasives/index. shtml United States Department of Agriculture. “Invasives in Illinois.” https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/ nrcs/il/technical/ecoscience/invasive/ nrcseprd1330612/ Vigorous weeds and lethargic regulations: a wicked problem. 16 Feb. 2017. https:// www.agweb.com/news/crops/soybeans/ vigorous-weeds-and-lethargic-regulations- wicked-problem