Page 16 - Agriculture Magazine, Fall, 2021
through the animal and are not deposited out on the land. This is also a great practice to do on your own property. This year has been extremely challenging to forage producers and buyers. Wild fires, natural rainfall, and grasshoppers have wreaked havoc on this year’s crops and because of that prices for forage has increased dramatically. However buying cheap feed will only cause you heartache in the future. Cheap forage is usually chocked full of noxious weeds. Then for many years in the future you will spend lots of time, money, and back-breaking labor trying to get them off of our property. Montana agricultural producers strive to find adequate feed for livestock during severe drought conditions and a damaging wildfire season, the Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) has issued some guidance for out-of-county or state shipments of hay to prevent the spread of noxious weeds and other invasive pests. “The need for hay far outweighs our supply right now in Montana,” said Acting Director Christy Clark. “We recognize the need to find hay for our producers, but there can be some very serious consequences if we don’t do our due diligence in making sure that hay donations and shipments from other states aren’t bringing weeds and insects that are not currently present in Montana with them.” Hay being transported from other states and counties has
the potential to introduce or spread noxious and invasive weed species, insect pests, and plant diseases. Here are some best management practices to mitigate and prevent their introduction and spread: • Ask and or look at the field where the hay was grown, and use certified weed free forage when possible feed hay in an area that can be easily monitored for new weeds for several years. • Coordinate with your local weed district or MSU Extension office to monitor areas and identify unknown weeds and pests. • Control weeds before they produce seed, and defer moving livestock through any area with a new weed species until it is removed or contained. Ravalli County has several landowners that grow and sell certified weed seed free forage. Please do your part in protecting our landscapes for wildlife, livestock, and future generations and don’t be the person that increases noxious weed populations or introduces a new species that will cost us all thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to eradicate from our beautiful Bitterroot Valley. There are many resources right here at home to help you in your venture of reducing and treating noxious weeds. Call your Ravalli County Weed District at 406-777-5842 or the Ravalli County Extension office at 406-375-6611. AG
