Keeping Noxious Weeds at Bay is an Ongoing Battle

By Reagan ConnellyInvasive species of weeds are an annual problem for John McKee. McKee is Emergency Manager for Jefferson and Saline counties as well as Weed Superintendent. He oversees the extermination of noxious weeds in Jefferson County.There are 12 types of noxious weeds in Nebraska but not all 12 can be found in Jefferson County, McKee said.When a plant is labeled as noxious it is put on a watchlist which is released to the weed superintendents for counties. “If we’ve got something in our area that’s starting to look aggressive, we can throw it on the watchlist,” McKee said.After a plant is put on the watchlist the weed association and the Department of Agriculture decide whether it needs to be put on the noxious weed list.Once a weed is admitted to the noxious weed list, state statutes require the landowner on record to control the weed on the property.“We inspect once, sometimes twice a year, once in the spring, once in the fall,” McKee said. He added that he gets assistance from Saline County for these inspections.The noxious weeds plaguing Jefferson County are Musk Thistle, Phragmites, Leafy Spur and Sericea Lespedeza.Musk Thistle tends to be a problem all across the state, McKee said. “Musk Thistle for our area is the one that everyone is accustomed to, it’s the one that everyone was told to go out and hoe as a kid,” he said.Phragmites is a newer weed to Jefferson County. Phragmites can grow enormously tall. McKee said they’d found some that had grown up to five feet taller than him. “It was a good 10-12 feet,” he said.Phragmites is considered noxious due to its root growth as well its density.McKee added that it’s particularly difficult to kill because one of the most successful chemicals in killing it is nonselective and subsequently kills trees, grass and other harmless plants in the area.“If you’re traveling the Interstate, the Platte River is full of it,” McKee said. “It’s a bushy head on it and the fall is a really good time to see it.”McKee said it can be spotted outside of Fairbury next to the highway before the turn to the sale barn. He is working with the state to get that area sprayed.McKee said the main concern with Phragmites, more commonly known as the Common Reed, is that it used to be mainly a waterway concern but recently has been found upland, “So, it’s really one that we’re getting really concerned about. The state is starting to think that maybe this is a plant that migrating birds are transporting and that’s why we’re seeing up on hills instead of in the valleys.”He added that Phragmites is a particularly aggressive plant. In some areas they found it trying to grow across gravel roads. “It’ll go about 10-12 inches and shoot up a sprout and one time when we were out there the grater pulled up a root growing through the grater ridge, so it’s a really aggressive plant.”Leafy Spur is a problem outside of Jansen. McKee said they are currently working with landowners to control this weed which is usually found in ditches.Sericea Lespedeza is starting to show more often. “Just across the state line in Kansas it is bad,” McKee said.This plant produces millions of tiny seeds as well as sending up more shoots from its roots. “Between its roots and seeds it’s a really hard plant to kill,” McKee said.Sericea usually shows in the spring but fall is the ideal time to spray for Phragmites and Musk Thistle.

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