Community Agriculture Alliance: Routt County can help owners control noxious weeds

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The snow has come off and the sun is out turning everything green, one of the reasons we live in this beautiful valley. Even though everything is turning green, it does not mean the landowner or agriculture producer can sit back and watch the grass grow.

In that native foliage, there are non-native grasses and forbs (noxious weeds) that the landowner is required to deal with. As stated in a previous article, Colorado Revised Statutes Title 35 — Agriculture Article 5.5 Colorado Noxious Weed Act, "All landowners are responsible for eradicating, containing or suppressing noxious weeds in an effort to prevent spreading to adjacent properties." Small-acreage landowners will need to get a weed sprayer to accomplish this task, which the Routt County Conservation District can support through their sprayer rental.

The RCCD owns a 200-gallon pull-behind weed sprayer, which any Routt County landowner can rent. This sprayer is self-powered and contains a 50-foot hose reel with a spray gun for spot spraying as well as a boomless boom buster kit that covers 35 feet of broadcast spray. This sprayer can be pulled by anything from a large side-by-side to a small/medium tractor. The unit rents from $130 per day plus a refundable damage deposit.

As with any landowner application, the weather must cooperate and have little to no wind depending on the application type and chemicals. This 200-gallon sprayer will be able to cover 40 acres in the day, either spot or broadcast spraying. Please keep in mind that the sprayer needs to travel to your place at a maximum speed of 40 mph, so please plan accordingly. To check availability and rent the sprayer, please review the requirements on the RCCD website, RouttCountyCD.com, and then contact Jeremy Kline using the contact information on the website.

Please remember it is up to the lessee to follow all chemical label instructions and operate the sprayer in a manner to deliver the required amount of chemical concentration on the target weed. On the RCCD website, the weed sprayer owner's manual and application rate chart have all the calibration equations needed to calculate the required speed and spray pressure to deliver the targeted gallons per acre.

If you still have questions about how to do this, Routt County has two departments that can point you in the right direction. Routt County Weed Department and CSU Extension will be willing to help with weed identification, control plans and education on spraying techniques.

The RCCD has been around for more than 80 years, and like all conservation districts, it was formed to provide resource conservation education and assistance to landowners as well as provide local input to the Natural Resources Conservation Service on local conservation issues.

The RCCD not only rents its weed sprayer, but has active programs for three natural resource priorities: soil health, water and rangeland and forestry. RCCD is working to provide education, financial and technical assistance on these important natural resources to local landowners. Please visit RouttCountyCD.com to find out more about the weed sprayer or the natural resource priorities the district is working on.

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