Air September 11, 2002

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. We had a good meeting Monday night on Sericea Lespedeza. More on that in a minute. A year ago today is one of those dates that we will all forever remember exactly what we were doing when we heard "the news". I was driving to work and was probably in shock like everyone else. I think it is important that we all take a few minutes today to reflect on what happened, what was lost and what has been gained. But then I think it’s equally important that we continue to carry on, move forward and refuse to let those terrorist attacks remain around our neck like a mill stone.

We had a good turnout and a great night for a meeting on Monday evening. In spite of the dry weather some of the sericea was trying to bloom so we could see mowed off plants, established plants and have a great discussion about this "new" weed. Sericea lespedeza is in the county. Fortunately for us it is spreading slowly and that gives us a chance to get it under control. Much of it was either intentionally planted for wildlife habitat or was brought in with native grass seed or hay. Since it prefers rainfall over 30 inches and soils under 7.5, we have fortunately been able to see it spread slowly, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it. So far we have not found effective biological or cultural control methods. Anything that will prevent seed development will help keep the plant from spreading. Regular mowing or goat grazing seem to be effective in that regard. The plant loves a spring burn, in fact that helps more seed to germinate. But we can use that to our advantage with a herbicide spray program. We have two basic approaches to treatment. Spraying in the May and June with Remedy or after mid July with Escort of Cimarron (not Cimarron Max, just straight Cimarron). It is very important that both of these products be mixed with the appropriate amount of surfactant and then applied with plenty of water to get thorough coverage of the plant. When plants are stressed, like this year, spraying probably won’t be effective unless we can get a good flush of growth 5 to 7 days after a half inch or more of rain. Since sericea lespedeza is a state noxious weed, you can purchase the approved herbicides from the noxious weed office. For more information about sericea, contact myself, the NRCS office or the noxious weed office.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2002.

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