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 For October and December Weed Watcher, please click on the following links. Weed Watcher October 2010 Weed Watcher December 2010 Weed Watcher June 2011 Weed Watcher August 2011 Weed Watcher October 2011 Weed Watcher December 2011 Scroll down for previous Weed Watcher Newsletters.
Vol. 24, Number 2 April, 2010 Presidents Report Welcome Spring from Parkston, SD. Starting to see the snow all but disappear. I drove the 4 wheeler through the trees for the first time and seen how high the snow was by the bark off the trees from the rabbits. Enough snow. Hope everyone remembers pesticide recertification classes. It's that time of the year to start looking down and checking for noxious weeds, mainly thistles. But remember don't spray them all or we could lose our jobs if all the weeds disappear! We do enjoy our February get-togethers. Well it's about time for county weed board meetings. Always n ice to know you are needed for another year. Till next time, Floyd Muntefering, 40172 274th St. Parkston, SD 57366, 928-3519--cell 770-2936
Environmental Costs The global economy, advancements in transportation and technology have created life style changes leading to increased travel and commerce. These changes come at a cost to our environment.
These improvements have caused the loss of one of the environments best protections, isolation. The oceans no longer afford protective barriers from the exotic species.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with exotic species. The environment contains many alien plants that safe or even beneficial. Many of our crop and garden plants are not native to our environment. They were brought over for their beauty or agriculture benefits. However, some of these species can be aggressive invaders. Through accident or ignorance, these species introduced to the environment become invasive and destructive and can escape into our few remaining natural areas. They invade and destroy habitat of many native species. Purple loosestrife and Yellow toadflax the colorful garden beauties, are deadly to the native plants and animals they displace. Another prolific alien replacing woodland wildflowers is garlic mustard. The list goes on and on: reed canary grass, Canada thistle, and teasel. All destroy natural ecosystems and cause problems for landowners The proliferations of these alien invaders, with their aggressive behavior are taking over our native landscape slowly overpowering it.
Take time to notice the area around you since awareness is the first step in controlling new invasives. Working together, landowners, and agencies can remove these invaders from our natural areas.
William "Bud" DeBerg, 89, Watertown, died Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, in a care center at Watertown.
Cattail Management Program Reduces Blackbird Damage to Sunflowers
Pierre, S.D. - Applications are now being accepted from South Dakota sunflower producers for participation in the 2010 cattail management program. The annual program provides aerial application of an aquatic herbicide to reduce cattail densities in wetlands. Blackbirds roost in those cattails and use them for shelter while feeding in sunflower fields in the fall. Removing the cattails helps reduce damage to nearby crop fields. Cattails in wetlands can be managed for up to four years after spraying if sufficient water depths prevent growth of cattail roots and seeds. Spraying begins in August and ends in early September. The program is conducted by Wildlife Services, a division of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The herbicide is approved by the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency. For more information or for application materials, landowners should contact USDA- APHIS/Wildlife Services, 420 South Garfield Ave., Suite 300, Pierre, SD 57501; or call (605) 224-8692. Applications must be received by July 1, 2010.
ATV Safety:
As an ATV Safety Instructor, it pains me to hear of accidents involving ATV equipment. Often it’s one of our cohorts that is involved in an ATV accident. When we hear about these accidents, I think we tend to believe that it was probably a result of excessive speed, inexperience, or irresponsibility. However, it’s often hard working, responsible people who are involved with these accidents. Try not to get into a “it won’t happen to me” frame of mind.
When planning a work trip with an ATV, there are several safety plans that you should consider: - Use the buddy system. This old swimming adage aptly applies to ATV activities. If you can’t do that, be sure to communicate your plans with someone before you leave. Make it a habit to communicate again with that person when you return from the trip. - Before riding, stretch out your muscles. Think gym class! Getting your muscles more limber will reduce fatigue, improve your attention and response, and possibly reduce the potential injury. - Carry a First Aid Kit. - Most of us carry one kind of a communication device anymore. Your cell phone or radio may not always work, but it might. It’s worth having with you. - Carry an extension hose, back pack, or hand held sprayer for use in areas less accessible for the ATV. - The job requires much of your attention to be away from driving. So you need to be even more careful. Remember that even at a slow speed, this wonderful machine is already making your work easy and efficient. Stay alert. Don’t overdrive the conditions.
Consider an ATV Safety Training class. The ATV Safety Institute has developed a safety class which is designed to provide beginning rider instruction, safety information, and riding skills practice. Some agencies have policies requiring riders to take this class. Some insurance companies will allow a premium discount. Most of the ATV manufacturers provide free classes with the sale of a new machine. Your ATV sales office should know who provides these classes in your area. I can provide classes at no charge for government employees or contractors. I will be providing two classes on May 25, 2010, at Pierre. If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me at the SDDA office (605.773.3796).
Annual Meeting Minutes (Unappproved) Association of South Dakota County Weed and Pest Boards Ramkota Hotel, Aberdeen Feb. 19, 2010 8:00 AM Ted LaFleur call the meeting to order at 8:04 AM with the following name in attendance. Gary moved to approve the signup sheets for roll call. Second and carried. Ron Jarrett moved to approve the agenda. Second and carried. Herb Ulrichson moved to approve the minutes of the last annual meeting. Second and carried. Dale Steffan moved to approve the Treasurer’s report. Second and approved. President’s Report: Ted LaFleur reported on the proposed by-laws change, the dues change and activities. Others would report on the legislation issues. Extension Report: Mike Moechnig reported on the new Dean, Barry Dunn, upcoming Weed & Pest meetings, new fact updates would be available in about 30 days, but not a lot of new products. State Supervisor’s Report: Ron Moehring reported there were a few new supervisors but less than normal, all the farm shows that the Dept. has been involved in and that the weed people are available for local meetings, as requested. Commission Report: Lynn Deibert reported on the Fall Commission Tour, the leafy spurge plots in Aurora County, the legislation on Commission reorganization and the training on Robert’s Rules of Order. Audit Report: Floyd Munterfering and Mike Moechnig audited the books and Floyd reported that they were approved with no exceptions. Nominating Committee: Paula Barber reported Gary Heldt was nominated for 2nd Vice and Gary Pribyl was nominated for Sec./Treas. Nominations from the floor were received for Duane Jark and Dana Iverson for 2nd Vice. It was voted that nominations cease for 2nd Vice. Kelly Fortune moved that nominations cease and we cast a unanimous ballot for Gary Pribyl for Secretary/Treasurer. Second and carried. After a written vote, Dana was declared elected. Nominations for District 6 Commission nominees are: Dale Paterson, Leonard Wood , Kim Junke and Travis Beas . Kelly Fortune moved to close nominations, second and carried. Nominations for District 4 Commission nominees are: Lynn Deibert, Pat Prince and Ronnie Ehresman Ron Jarrett moved that nominations cease, second and carried. Ted asked for comments from the nominees for 2nd Vice. Gary Heldt reported 26 years as a chemical dealer, a number of years as supervisors and a commercial sprayer. Duane Jark reported 35 years as a grain elevator manager, always willing to try something new. Dana Iverson reported has been a rancher in Stanley county and previous experience on the board. He mentioned that all the candidates were well qualified. Ted mentioned the availability of the website and encouraged everyone to take the email Weed Watcher. Discussion was held on increasing the Association dues and the reasons why. There was a motion from Ron Jarrett to raise the dues to $150.00 per year and a second. After a written vote, it was carried - 38 to 5. Bylaws. A motion was made, second and carried to amend the by-laws to read as follows. To assist the executive board in carrying out the business of the association there shall be an executive committee of four members and representing the four districts of the state as follows: One member from District I shall reside within the counties of Beadle, Brookings, Brown, Clark, Codington, Day, Deuel, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Hamlin, Hand, Hyde, Kingsbury, Marshall, McPherson, Roberts, or Spink; one member from District II shall reside within the counties of Aurora, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Hanson, Hutchinson, Jerauld, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Turner, Union, or Yankton; one member from District III shall reside within the counties of Bennett, Campbell, Corson, Dewey, Gregory, Haakon, Hughes, Jackson, Jones, Lyman, Mellette, Potter, Stanley, Sully, Todd, Tripp, Walworth, or Ziebach and one member from District IV shall reside within the counties of Butte, Custer, Fall River, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Pennington, Perkins, or Shannon; The members of the executive committee shall be elected at the annual district meetings. A member of the executive committee shall serve for one year or until his successor is elected and qualified.
Ron Jarrett moved to adjourn at 9:10 AM.
USDA-APHIS, PPQ
With the upcoming grasshopper season approaching we would like to pass along several things to keep in mind. First, we encourage you to contact us regarding your grasshopper concerns as early as possible. Our grasshopper involvement largely relates to forage management and crop protection from grasshoppers moving from federally managed lands on to crops. Thus we largely concentrate our program efforts in the west river counties. But with that said we do work with the Cooperative Extension Service, and Dr. Mike Catangui, Extension Entomologist for grasshopper concerns in cropping situations. Secondly, the crop protection program mentioned above remains a greatly underutilized program. It allows for the buffer treatment on federally managed rangeland immediately adjacent to private agricultural land. No application will be made on the privately managed crop / agricultural land but control efforts are made at no cost to the producer to prevent grasshoppers from moving in to their crops from the federal lands. Please contact us for additional information. Lastly, our grasshopper research team from Phoenix, Arizona will be once again conducting studies in South Dakota. Their research studies will include; a further evaluation and development of new dimilin formulations. They will look at the interval swathing technique (commonly referred to as RAAT’s, for reduced area and reduced agent) for applying 13 oz per acre. The 13 oz consists of .75 oz of dimilin, 4 oz crop oil, and 8.5 oz water. This type of formulation will help improve application costs, which ultimately translates to less cost incurred by the producer. Additional dimilin studies will compare the efficacy of various nozzle tips that are available for aerial application systems to evaluate which provides better coverage. The research team will also work this summer in both Montana and Utah to further evaluate fungal agents as another control alternative. Promising research is being seen for the fungal pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae. Bruce Helbig, 605/224-1713
Insecticides for Use Against Grasshoppers in the Home Garden
The following insecticides are labeled for use against grasshoppers in the home garden: insecticidal soap (Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap Multi-Purpose Insect Killer, Safer Brand Insect Killing Soap); bran bait with carbaryl (Sevin 5 Bait, Eco Bran); kaolin clay (Surround WP Crop Protectant); bifenthrin (Ortho Bug B Gon Max Lawn & Garden Insect Killer, Sergeant's Yard and Premise Spray); carbaryl (Sevin); cyfluthrin (Bayer Advanced Power Force Multi-Insect Killer, Schultz Lawn & Garden Insect Killer); esfenvalerate (Ortho Bug-B-Gon Max Garden & Landscape Insect Killer, KGRO Multi-Purpose Garden Insect Killer); gamma-cyhalothrin (Spectracide Triazicide Insect Killer Once & Done); imidacloprid + beta-cyfluthrin (Bayer Advanced Complete Brand Insect Killer For Soil & Turf, Bayer Advanced Dual Action Rose & Flower Insect Killer); and permethrin (Bonide Eight Insect Control Yard & Garden, UltraStop Yard & Garden Multi-Purpose Insect Killer). A common complaint among gardeners is that “there are no effective insecticides available for use against grasshoppers on sweet corn and vegetables with short enough pre-harvest intervals later in the season.” This complaint is actually unfounded – there are many insecticides to choose from that will both give good grasshopper control and have short pre-harvest intervals. Most commonly used insecticides, for example, only require 1-day pre-harvest interval (PHI) for sweet corn and tomato, 3- day PHI for beans, cucumber, squash, and zucchini, and 7-day PHI for eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. As always, carefully read and follow label directions before using any insecticide. Gardeners may actually have more options available to them than those of us who are trying to manage grasshoppers in pastures and rangelands. Mike Catangui, SDSU, 605/688-4603
L to R: Jim Krantz, Educator, LaDonna Holm, Contributor, Lawrence Barnett, Contributor & Earl Stombaugh, Board Member.
PASTURE LOSS DUE TO GRASSHOPPER INFESTATION ELIGIBLE FOR ELAP HURON, SD, Apr. 8, 2010 - Craig Schaunaman, State Executive Director of USDA's Farm Service Agency in South Dakota announced that the state of South Dakota has been approved for pasture grazing loss assistance under the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) as a result of grasshopper infestation during the 2009 grazing season. "ELAP provides emergency relief to livestock producers to aid in the reduction of losses due to disease and adverse weather that are not covered by the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), and Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP)," Schaunaman said. Producers that had pasture grazing losses for the 2009 season due to grasshoppers can now contact their local FSA Service Center for a late filed ELAP signup. The producer must certify to the actual number of grazing days that were lost due to the grasshopper infestation. This signup will only be open for a limited period of time. Producers should contact their local FSA Service Center for details regarding the ELAP program. Additional information about the ELAP program or any other program administered by FSA can be obtained on the web at www.fsa.usda.gov.
FIFRA for Corn & Sunflowers
EPA has granted a FIFRA Section 18 specific exemption to South Dakota for the use of 9,10 anthraquinone [Avipel (R)] to repel ring-necked pheasant on corn seed, field & sweet, at planting effective April 8, 2010. The Section 18 will expire April 7, 2011. To print the label(s) and approval letter, go to: http://sdda.sd.gov/Ag_Services/Agronomy_Services_Programs/Pesticide_Product_Registration/Section_18.aspx The EPA permit number is 10SD01.
EPA has granted a FIFRA Section 18 specific exemption to South Dakota for the use of 9,10 anthraquinone [Avipel (R)] to repel ring-necked pheasant on sunflower (seed) at planting effective April 16, 2010. The Section 18 will expire April 15, 2011. To print the label(s) and approval letter, go to: http://sdda.sd.gov/Ag_Services/Agronomy_Services_Programs/Pesticide_Product_Registration/Section_18.aspx The EPA permit number is 10SD02.
Assn of SD County Weed & Pest Bds Non-Profit Organization 19987 Homestead Lane US Postage Paid Wolsey, SD 57384-8425 Huron, SD 57350 Permit No. 180
WEED & PEST SCHOLARSHIP
We raised $939.00 for the scholarship from the silent auction and donations at the conference in Aberdeen, this year. We have 12 applicants for the $1000.00 scholarship and they are being reviewed, now, by our committee. The winner will be announced in the next issue of the Weed Watcher and on our website at: sdweedandpest.com
Thanks to all our contributors, supporters, review committee and applicants!!
Ted LaFleur, President Vol. 24, Number 1 January, 2010 Presidents Report 12-28-2009 - New Years Greetings from Madison, This is a great time to reflect on the past year and plan for the upcoming year. Educational programs and materials can be prepared at this time. Make note of up-coming pesticide recertification classes to avoid retesting. Remember, attitude is everything. Keep a positive attitude as you dig out from the piles of snow, waiting for the wind to pick up and cover your path! You are encouraged to submit names for Outstanding Supervisor, Board member, Extension Educator and other contributors along with a resume for each. I am looking forward to the stories at our upcoming 2010 training and meetings in Aberdeen February 17th, 18th, and 19th, 2010. Ted LaFleur, Madison Parks Department, PO Box 308, Madison, SD 57042 (605) 256-7520 office, (605) 480-4135 cell Ted.LaFleur@cityofmadisonsd.com 2009 in Review As 2009 ends, it is time to look back on the past year at our accomplishments and look ahead to 2010. Reported noxious weed infestations were down one percent from last year even though we saw a slight increase in the thistles and a large increase in Hoary cress acreage. There was a new addition to the locally noxious list, Sulfur cinquefoil. There was very little turn over in Weed and Pest Supervisors this year. Five supervisors left the job in 2009. Of those one has moved on but will be involved with the weed and pest program in another county, one was replaced by a long time assistant and the others were replaced by new people. Forty-two counties have supervisors that are full time county employees. Enforcement efforts are increasing, with some counties adding a per hour charges to enforcements. County mapping still needs some work with only a few counties sending in data. There was good attendance at the booths at the Vermillion Farm Show, Black Hills Stack Show, Watertown Farm Show, Dakota Fest, and the State Fair as well as educational programs and annual meetings in the counties. Sometimes we wonder if this is worth the time, until we get a report of a weed from the public present at one of these events. There is good news and some bad news for the bio-control programs. The releases of the stem weevil Mecinus janthinus in the Black Hills have cleaned up large areas of Dalmatian toadflax and they are starting to move on their own. The Purple loosestrife insect Galerucella calmariensis raised at the Yankton unit of the Mike Durfee Prison continue to work on the loosestrife in Nebraska and South Dakota. We have added a new rearing facility at the Yankton unit for the knapweed root weevil Cyphocleonus achates. More counties are becoming involved with the Spurge bio-control program and are establishing insectaries in their counties, and moving the beetles in their county. The bad news is the Saltcedar insect still does not have a good established site in South Dakota. In 2009, pests were still a concern. There was a move to place Prairie dogs on the endangered list. In November, the USF&W ruled they were not, a candidate for listing. The western portion of the state experienced a severe grasshopper outbreak. Mountain pine beetles continue to plague the Black Hills. Three counties in the southeast part of the state now have an established population of Japanese beetles. On the aquatic front jumping carp have been found in the Big Sioux River, Zebra mussels have been found below Gavin’s Point Dam and Jack Dempseys were found in Hot Springs. This past year we lost many old time weed fighters, most notably former commission members Ron Reed and Loren Bjorklund. The 2010 legislative year will see a bill introduced to change the structure of the Weed and Pest Commission. Under this bill, the commission would be reduced from fourteen members to nine. The commission would be composed of representative from the County Commissioners, the state land holding agencies, four district representatives and one member appointed at large. The department and SDSU would be ex-official members and the associations would lose their members. The grant spending cycle will change for competitive grants. This will give the counties the ability to use the grant money in the growing season. We can look forward to more challenges in 2010 with new invaders on our borders and another tight year fiscally. Good luck and keep up the fight
Supervisor’s Training (required for all Supervisor’s or their rep) Wednesday, February 17, 2010 Fee includes training sessions, noon meal & breaks Registration fee………………………………...............$25.00
Weed & Pest Conference Registration Information (required for 2 county reps) Thursday, February 18 & Friday, February 19, 2010 Registration fee: (Thurs. & Fri.) ………...….……….$90.00 Additional Awards Banquet tickets (Thurs. Eve).…..$25.00 Registration: (Thursday only)…………..…..…..........$65.00 Registration: (Friday only)…………………………...$30.00
Registrations at the door will include programming & breaks. Registrations, at the door: NO MEALS Thurs. - $25.00 Friday - $15.00 Registration package includes: All programming Thursday: Breakfast, Noon meal, Awards banquet & breaks Friday: Breakfast & breaks Hospitality Room: Tues., Wed. & Thurs. nights Aberdeen Lodging Best Western Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center Headquarters of the Weed & Pest Conference Call 605-229-4040 for reservations www.aberdeen.ramkota.com Conference rates are: $64.99 single or double +tax by Feb. 1, 2010 OTHER LODGING Super 8 North 226-2288 Whitehouse Inn 225-5000 Please visit www.aberdeencvb.com for additional lodging options. All registrations received by Jan. 30, 2010 will be entered in a drawing for a free registration for the 2011 Weed & Pest Conference. SILENT AUCTION All counties and interested individuals are invited and encouraged to bring items for a silent auction to fund our scholarship program. A display will be set-up in the exhibit room for all items. Bids will be accepted until Thursday evening after the awards banquet. Items can be paid for and picked up Thursday evening or Friday morning by the successful bidders. Commission Note The Weed & Pest Commission is once again recognizing County Weed & Pest Board members with extended years of service. Please send names and years of service (5 year multiples) to LaDonna Holm, Dept. of Ag, 523 E. Capitol, Foss Bldg., Pierre, SD 57501-3182 Calendar of Activities JANUARY Complete and submit annual report. Begin planning the annual and educational meetings. Stress use of clean seed. Purchase chemicals and equipment. Update records, files and maps. Contact landowner/operators who have noxious weed and declared pest problems. Attend re-certification training. Program planning and organizational work. Submit requests for local noxious weed and declared pest designations. Review projected grasshopper infestation levels. Continue treatment of mountain pine beetle infestations. FEBRUARY Finalize plans and hold educational and annual meetings. Contact landowner/operators who have noxious weed and declared pest problems. Stress use of clean seed. Meet with interested groups. Meeting of the county weed and pest board, community representatives, and county agricultural agent to develop the county noxious weed and declared pest program for the year. Organize and hold meetings to structure cooperative programs for noxious weed, declared pest and grasshopper control. Continue treatment of mountain pine beetle infestations. Attend State Crop and Pest Conference. MARCH Hold the annual meeting by the third Tuesday in March. Repair equipment. Plan demonstration and test plots and tours. Send names of newly elected/appointed weed and pest board members to the State Coordinator. Meet with interested groups. Stress use of clean seed. Organize and hold meetings to structure cooperative programs for noxious weed, declared pest and grasshopper control. Continue treatment of mountain pine beetle infestations. Publish notice of intent to inspect in the county’s official newspaper(s) prior to April 1. Promotion Items Available Save shipping - mail, fax or call your orders in before Feb. 11. The trailer will not be in Aberdeen, so all order must be received early. They’ll be ready for pick up any evening of the conference. Call Gary: 605-883-4922, 605-354-1989, Fax: 605-883-4922 Mail: 19987 Homestead Lane, Wolsey, SD 57384 Nominations Nominations are needed for “Outstanding Weed & Pest Board Member“, ”Supervisor”, “Educator”, and “Contributor”. The deadline for nominations is Jan. 31. Send resumes to: Ron Moehring, Dept. of Ag, 523 E. Capitol, Foss Bldg., Pierre, SD 57501-3182 Registration Form Please detach and return with payment by February 10, 2010. Make check payable and send to: Weed & Pest Conference c/o Gary Pribyl 19987 Homestead Lane Wolsey, SD 57384-8425 ___ # of Registrations Supervisors Training (Wednesday) @ $25.00 $______________ (breaks & noon meal included) ___ # of Registrations Conference @ $90.00 (Thursday and Friday) $______________ (2 breakfasts, all breaks, 1 noon meal & awards banquet included) ___ # of Registrations @ $65.00 (Thursday) $______________ (breakfast, breaks, noon meal & awards banquet included) ___ # of Registrations @ $30.00 (Friday) $______________ (breakfast, 1 break included) Total enclosed $______________ Payment must be enclosed. Please include the following information for each person included with this form. Print carefully as name tags will be prepared from this information. Name_____________________________________________________ Title______________________________________________________ County/Agency_____________________________________________ copy as needed LOREN BJORKLUND PASSES ESTELLINE - Loren Dean Bjorklund, 77, Estelline, died Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in a care center at Estelline. Funeral services will be Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in the Trinity Lutheran Church at Estelline with the Rev. Ann E.S. Webb officiating. Burial will be in the Laketon Mission Covenant Cemetery, rural Arlington. Visitation will be Friday from 2 to 8 p.m. in the Geise Funeral Home at Estelline. He was born Feb. 16, 1932, in Watertown to Verner and Amy (Aronson) Bjorklund. He grew up on the family farm, attended country school and graduated from Castlewood High School in 1949. He was Boys Student of the Year in 1948, while attending school in Castlewood. He entered the U.S. Army in 1952 during the Korean Conflict. He served with the 393rd Battalion in Germany for 18 months and was honorably discharged in April of 1954. He met his wife, Angie Wolf while she boarded at his parents' farm as she was the new teacher for the school nearby. They were married April 22, 1955, in Estelline. They lived on the same farm for more than 50 years and he enjoyed farming with his father and in the later years with his son, David. Even when he couldn't do tractor work, he enjoyed driving around and looking at his fields and cattle. He was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church and served on the church council for many years and served two years as president of the congregation. He was on the Hamlin County Weed Board for 33 years and served as chairman for 31 of those years. He served two years as president of the State Weed and Pest Board and was president of the District 1 Weed Board for 15 years. He was on the Hamlin County Extension Board for four years and served 14 years on the Land O' Lakes Tri County Voting Unit Board, with six of those years as the chairman. He also served 27 years as treasurer of the Estelline Township Board. He was also a life member of the Montgomery-Anderson American Legion Post in Estelline. He was a seed dealer for more than 20 years, last representing Mustang Seeds. He also worked at Stone Bridge Resort selling dance tickets. He was an avid sports fan, always following the local high school teams, as well as the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He was knowledgeable in all areas of sports and enjoyed answering the sports quiz questions on the radio contests. In February of 2008, he entered the Estelline Nursing and Care Center. While there, he enjoyed visiting with others and especially enjoyed the current events activities. He was preceded in death by his son, Gary. Survivors include his wife, Angie of Estelline; their children, David of Estelline, Rose Marie of Houston and Sherry and her husband Shabbir Rizvi of Castlewood; several grandchildren; and two brothers, Lyle and his wife Joan and Rodney and his wife Sally. DAKOTA FARM SHOW Department of Ag personal, supervisors and Weed board staff will be at the Dakota Dome on January 5-6-7 to share information and answer your questions on weed and pest issues. Be sure, if you are in the area, to stop in and say “hi”, and register to win a Nebraska weed book, at booth 341. BLACK HILLS STOCK SHOW The Association has once again retained a booth at the Stock show to reach our western neighbors. You are encouraged to stop in and visit about your weed control problems. Be sure to register for the Nebraska weed book to be given away. Weed Board, supervisors and Department of Agriculture people will be manning the booth. If they do not have an answer to your problem, they will know where to find the answer to your questions. We will be on the second floor at booth C-23, in the hallway. WATERTOWN WINTER SHOW Bring your questions and problems with you as you attend the Watertown winter show February 9-13. Be sure to stop-in and register for the Nebraska Weed book being given away. Show hours are 10AM to 5PM at the Armory and Extention center. Weed and Pest control personal will be on hand to field your questions. SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE A $1000 scholarship is available to second year students in agronomy and entomology in all South Dakota schools of higher learning. Applications are available from your school, e-mail: gpribyl@santel.net or calling Gary Pribyl at 883-4922 or 354-1989. Application deadline: April 24, 2010. End of Year Reports Due Just a reminder that the Annual and Fiscal Reports are due into the Pierre office by January 31, 2010 (keep in mind that is a Sunday - so please send early). These reports can be found on pages 77 and 78 of the Weed and Pest Handbook. These forms can also be submitted electronically. If you don't have them electronic, call and we can email the forms to you. If reports are not in by this date, they may not be included in the state's annual report that is usually available at the State Weed and Pest Conference.
Also - if you want to renew or add a locally noxious declared weed to your county's list, this form needs to be mailed in to LaDonna by January 15. The form is found on pages 43 and 44 in the Weed and Pest Handbook. The Weed and Pest Commission will act on your locally noxious request at their February 17th meeting in Aberdeen. The Commission must approve requests for locally noxious weeds. Remember, the county is limited to 8 locally noxious weeds or pests. If you have any questions on your current listing, please call.
If you need assistance filling out any of these forms, call Brenda, Mike or Ron for assistance.
Brenda Sievers
Vol. 23, Number 4 October, 2009 Presidents Report 9-23-2009 Greetings from Madison, On August 26th 2009, through August 28th 2009 the SD Weed and Pest Control Commission met in Mitchell for a tour of weed plots and meetings. At this meeting, grants were discussed. Discussion on bringing down the size of the commission was held. Check the dates for the upcoming District meetings. The grant criteria are the same as the recent past, you must get 2 representatives to your District meeting (or you can go to another District if that works better for your schedule/travel distance). Good luck with fall spraying. Keep a positive attitude and educate the public as we go. Ted LaFleur, Madison Parks Department, PO Box 308, Madison, SD 57042 (605) 256-7520 office, (605) 480-4135 cell Ted.LaFleur@cityofmadisonsd.com Your Help is Needed You - board members, commissioners, supervisors, legislators and individuals – You! Weed control has been pushed to the back burner. We, the weedfighters of South Dakota are the only ones who can get that changed. It takes dedication and commitment from each of us. We each have talents that can change our community for better or worse. Have you done your part? Just being on a board doesn’t cut it. You have to decide to do the job even if it isn’t popular or financially profitable. We need to encourage the younger generations to be involved and help with the work and decisions. District meetings are upon us again, one more chance for you to step forward to grow the group and the program. Districts 4 & 6 need commission nominees, every district needs officers to carry the program forward. Please plan to attend and be part of the solution. A discussion has started about reorganizing the Weed and Pest Commission. This will be discussed at the district meetings. This involves legislation so your input is important. Additional funding is also up for discussion, come be a part of this discussion. Gary Pribyl, Secretary Mailing addresses We need your current address! The post office will no longer accept Rural routes, Star Routes and Highway contract addresses. Consider getting the Weedwatcher via e-mail. If this would work for you, please send an e-mail to me at gpribyl@santel.net with your name, mailing address with zip code and e-mail address, you’ll help save a tree and postage.
2009 District Weed and Pest Meetings October 28, 29, 30 November 4, 5, 6 DRAFT 830 - 9:00 Registration Host District 9:00 - 9:30 Introductions and Agency reports Host District 9:30 - 10:00 Dist 5 & 6 Grasshoppers Amy Mesman APHIS/ 9:30 - 10:00 Dist 1,2, 3, & 4 Weeds of Concern SDSU/SDDA 10:00 - 10:15 Break Break 10:15 - 1045 SDSU Mike Moechnig 10:45 - 11:15 Grant Program Darwin 11:15 - 12:00 New Invaders Mike/Brenda 12:00 -1:00 Lunch and Business meeting Association 1 :00 - 1:30 Enforcements Brenda/Mike/Ron 1:30 - 2:00 SDSU Darrell Deneke 2:00 - 2:30 CAPS Bio-control project Ron 2:30 - 2:45 Break Break 2:45 - 3:15 Missouri River Watershed Coalition Ron/Mike 3:15 - 3 :45 Scholarship Program Association Locations 10/28 Community Room 501 Main Street Wall 10/29 Bentley Memorial Building 40 W Carr St Bison 10/30 Orient Bar & Grill, located at 108 Main St, Orient Orient 11/4 4-H Building in Sisseton. The address is 11917 BIA Hwy 700 Sisseton 11/5 Southeastern Electric Meeting Room, located on Main Street Salem 11/6 Stumble Inn in Stickney, located at 301 Main St Stickney NOTE The November 4th District 1 Meeting will be held at the 4-H Building in Sisseton. The address is 11917 BIA Hwy 700. The numbers aren't on the building, so we may just want to use the directions, instead of the address. Take Hwy 10 to the west edge of Sisseton. Turn south on BIA Hwy 700 (County Hwy Show Yard is SW of that intersection). Go approx. 2 blocks south and the 4-H building in on the west side of the road. They are planning to have the meal catered. Calendar of Activities OCTOBER NOVEMBER Complete fall weed control program. Talk to adult classes, school, farm and other civic groups. Follow-up with non-cooperators to achieve fall treatment. Identify non-cooperative landowners and operators based Stress use of clean seed. on last season’s work. Begin developing plan of Speak to interested groups explaining your work. action to gain compliance. Update weed and pest maps. Develop community and neighborhood organization plans. Update file on non-cooperators. Encourage use of clean seed. Complete and distribute annual inspection report. Attend the District Weed & Pest Meeting. Complete fall pocket gopher programs. Continue inspection for mountain pine beetle infestations. DECEMBER Begin preparation of annual report. Update inspection/inventory records and files. Identify non-cooperative landowners and operators based on past season’s work. Begin developing plan of action to gain compliance. Speak to interested organizations. Begin treatment of mountain pine beetle infestations. New EDRR Site in the Works The Missouri River Watershed Coalition (MRWC) EDRR workgroup has adapted an EDRR system. Using EDDMaps Some key points of the system include:
When finished anyone in the six-state area will be available to use this site to report a new weed find. Now is the Time to be Planning for Fall and Winter Paperwork The first report that is due is your Annual Inspection Summary. This summary is due in Pierre by November 1, 2009. This is the form where you report how many acres you have of the various noxious weeds. A copy of it is on page 79 of your Weed and Pest Control Handbook. You and your weed board should have a number of acres put into this form. These acres are broken down by number of acres reported the previous year, the number of acres by location (crop, non-crop, range & pasture, etc.), and the number of actual infestations in your county. If any of these acres have a difficulty to treat such as water, trees or topography (rough terrain, etc.) try to estimate the number of acres in those areas as well. Finally, on that form, you need to put the approximate number of acres that have been controlled in the county. The numbers that you put on this report are used throughout the year at for press releases, research, and reports to the legislator. It is important to take a close look at your county and accurately report your acres so we can get a report that tells a true picture across South Dakota. Another report to start thinking about is your fiscal report, which is due in Pierre by January 31, or sooner, if possible. This report shows the dollars that are expended by counties in the areas of chemicals, enforcements, equipment, and application. The other report that is due on January 31 with the fiscal report is the Annual Summary. The Annual Summary just tells us how many weed board meetings you had last year, how many public meetings you had, how many miles of County and Township roads that you did control on, etc. These forms are found on page 77 and 78 in your Weed Handbook. If you cannot find them, contact us and we will get a copy to you. Alternatively, if you would like some assistance in filling them out, contact us and we can arrange that as well. Due to the short time frame to compile the information into the Annual Report and still get it printed, the earlier you can get these reports in will be greatly appreciated. Grants are due this year into Pierre no later than November 20, 2009. If you would like the opportunity to apply for grant dollars that are available, be sure to have your request in by this date. No late applications will be accepted. Be sure to look over the grant criteria, as there have been some changes this year. If you have any questions about the grant process, be sure to contact LaDonna, Brenda, Mike, Darwin or me. We will be available at District meetings to assist you as well. The information packet was sent out in early October. If you have not seen it yet, contact us. If you have locally noxious weeds that you would like to add to your county’s list, we just want to remind you that you can have no more that 8 locally noxious weeds/declared pests on that list. If you need to add or renew a weed to your locally declared list contact, use the form on page 42 and 43 of your Weed and Pest Control Handbook. This form will need to be approved by weed board and the Weed and Pest Commission before it can be added to your locally noxious weed /pest list for your county Be sure to mark your calendars for the upcoming Weed and Pest Conference, which will be held at the Ramkota in Aberdeen this year. The dates are February 17 through 19 2010. Hope to see everyone there! Just a reminder – it is important to attend a District Meeting this fall. Be sure to check the dates and see when your district is planning to meet. If you cannot make it to your District Meeting, you can certainly attend any other District Meeting. Much of the information that is presented is the same at each District Meeting. So be sure to keep that in mind if the District Meeting in your area conflicts with your calendar. Ron Reed Passes Ronald Reed, 85 of Oldham, died Friday, September 11, 2009 at Golden Living Center in Arlington, SD. He is survived by his wife, Beverly of Oldham, a son Walter (Star) Reed and a daughter, Elene (Roger) Schrepel all of Madison, SD; 3 grandsons, 3 step-granddaughters and 9 great-grandchildren; a sister, Darlene Eggum of Sioux Falls, SD and a brother, Wayne (Lucille) Reed of Sheldon, Iowa along with a number of other relatives and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, an infant sister Fern along with 3 adult sisters, Irene, Virginia and Carol.
Presidents Report 7-17-2009 Greetings from Madison, On Monday, July 6th, 2009 the SD Weed and Pest Control Commission held a conference call meeting. At this meeting, funding was discussed and a representative was selected to attend the committee meeting in Pierre on July 7th, 2009. The position of “Dean of Agriculture and Biological Sciences” at SDSU remains open. None of the candidates interviewed were selected or declined the offer. I will be able to ask one or more questions of finalists selected for this position at a later date. Input on questions related to the County Weed and Pest program can be forwarded to me for consideration. I value your input! Dakota Fest in Mitchell and the SD State Fair in Huron are great opportunities to get the word out about our cause. Grass-hoppers are out in force this year. Ads have been placed in the Rapid City area, any comments or suggestions for effective advertising? Good luck with fall spraying. Keep a positive attitude and educate the public as we go. Ted LaFleur, Madison Parks Department, PO Box 308, Madison, SD 57042 (605) 256-7520 office, (605) 480-4135 cell Ted.LaFleur@cityofmadisonsd.com Weed & Pest Commission Meeting . The South Dakota Weed & Pest Commission will be meeting at the Cabela’s Meeting Room, 601 Cabela Drive, Mitchell, SD at 2PM on August 26 – 28. Topics on the agenda include the normal reports, Grant Criteria, Commission restructuring and Conference programming for 2010. This is a public meeting so all are welcome. All meal will be on your own! Weed Personnel At State Fair, Dakotafest & Area fairs Weed personnel from county boards, SDSU, SDDA and the state Association will be manning booths across the state to raise awareness of weed issues. We will be the booth 3310 in the Varied Industries tent at Dakotafest and the Expo building at the State Fair. Mike and Darrell will have a booth in the SDSU tent at Dakotafest also. I know we will also have booths at the Brown and Perkins County fairs. Please stop with your questions and suggestions and thank the folk that took the time to be there. Saltcedar Mapping Update Mike Stenson - SDDA This summer the South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) began surveying saltcedar in late May. The first survey area was the Belle Fourche Resevoir (Orman Dam). No saltcedar was found, but small patches of thistles and hoary cress were mapped. Are we creating our own problems? Fall Thistle Control This year, one of the largest increases in noxious weed numbers have been in the Thistle category. Musk Thistles have exploded and with the wet weather, so have the Canada Thistle. With this moisture comes an excellent opportunity to do some fall control on the re-growth of these thistles and for fall rosettes. But a set-up plan is vital for the success of your fall control herbicides. If you have areas that didn’t get sprayed, mowing them now with encourage fall re-growth. By mowing now, you will reduce the amount of cover that fall applied herbicides have to get through to get to their target. It will also help for control next spring. With the reduced cover, it will make those areas easier to spot, monitor, and treat. As long as you have a good amount of re-growth, these fall control plans work well in Ideally people like to wait until the first frost to do their fall thistle control. But realistically this is very hard to do. Sometimes our first frost has been a killing freeze, and then we have missed an excellent opportunity to gain some ground on the thistles. When we get toward September, the nights are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. The thistles know that it is time to start sending food to their roots. Anytime when you start getting good rosettes coming back will be a great time to do a fall application of herbicides. Better to do herbicide applications while you have the chance, rather than miss out because of a hard freeze. We get the question “Is it too late to spray” quite often. Canada Thistle can take temperatures down to 25º before much damage is noted. If you have questions about your thistles being damaged by frost, the best thing to do is wait. In 24-36 hours you can observe and see if the leaves are becoming dull or wilted. If they are, then the plant is damaged and may not take up the herbicide very readily, if at all. If they are still a bright green color and not wilted or brown, then you can still get good control with herbicides. Usually biennial thistles will take lower temps than Canada Thistle because they are closer to the soil, so keep that in mind when treating those rosettes this fall. Please keep this in mind when you are spraying this fall. Because the beans and other susceptible plants are not as active in the fall, this does seem to give us a better opportunity to catch up on the thistles – cooler temps, less chance of drift, ect. But remember that drift still can give us problems next spring. Milestone or Tordon that is drifted out on a corn field this fall, may show up next spring when the beans they plant don’t come up or they come up and die. Be sure to keep your applications within the If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Department of Agriculture or SDSU. Brenda Sievers, Weed Management Technician, SD Department of Agriculture U.S. District Court of Appeals Vacates EPA Rule on NPDES Permits for Aquatic Pesticides In 2007, the U.S. EPA issued a final rule that stated pesticides applied to, over, or near water (aquatic pesticides) were exempt from the permit requirements of the Clean Water Act. On January 7, 2009, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision (The National Cotton Council, et al. vs. the U.S. EPA) that “vacated” this rule, effectively requiring any application of any pesticide that is applied to, over, or near water to obtain a NPDES permit prior to the application. The acronym NPDES stands for National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. This is the type of permit typically issued to waste water treatment plants and industries that release treated water to streams, rivers, and oceans (otherwise known as “point source” releases or discharges). On April 9th, EPA petitioned the Court to stay the decision for a two-year period, during which time they would write a national rule that provided authority to the states to issue NPDES permits for aquatic pesticides. At the same time, the National Cotton Council and other industry litigants petitioned the Court asking for a rehearing before the full court (24 judges). As of this writing, the Court is considering both requests, and must decide on the request for the rehearing before they consider the stay. By the time you read this, the Court will have likely made its decision. In the worst case scenario, the Court will deny both the rehearing and stay requests, and their decision will stand. Nationwide, this will force thousands of pesticide applicators to obtain hundreds of thousands of NPDES permits for pesticide applications. There is some good news for Nebraska pesticide applicators, however. On March 31st, in an effort to avoid the overwhelming task of issuing thousands of NPDES permits for pesticide applications, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) was approved to implement a state regulation that allows a NPDES permit to be “issued” for all pesticide applications without the applicator actually being required to apply for the permit. The regulation has not yet been signed or enacted by the Governor, because NDEQ believes it makes sense to wait to see whether the U.S. District Court decision actually stands. If the Court decision stands, NDEQ will enact this new rule, and pesticide applications can proceed as usual, so long as the applicators of the pesticides follow all label directions, keep records of the applications for three years, and report any unexpected consequences of the use to NDEQ..Regardless of the outcome of the court ruling, more information will be distributed from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA), NDEQ, and agricultural groups to inform pesticide applicators of new developments and requirements. Reprinted from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide & Noxious Weed Newsletter (www.agr.ne.gov)
Calendar of Events August 1. Exhibit at County Fair and Achievement Days. 2. Stress using closed or covered trucks, trailers or wagons for moving grains. 3. Work with weed and pest entries at county achievement days. 4. Promotional campaign encouraging fall noxious weed control. 5. Make annual inspections/inventory of weed and pest infestations. 6. Begin fall prairie dog control programs. 7. Complete grasshopper adult surveys. September 1. Initiate fall noxious weed control programs. 2. Retreat roadsides for control of noxious weed regrowth. 3. Third treatment of demonstration plots, if necessary. 4. Fall tour of demonstration plots. 5. Visit schools to talk about weed and pest control. 6. Stress use of clean seed. 7. Complete annual inspection/inventory of weed and pest infestations. 8. Initiate fall pocket gopher control program. 9. Continue fall prairie dog control program. 10. Remove and inspect gypsy moth traps. 11. Begin inspection for mountain pine beetle infestations. October 1. Complete fall weed control program. 2. Follow-up with non-cooperators to achieve fall treatment. 3. Stress use of clean seed. 4. Speak to interested groups explaining your work. 5. Update weed and pest maps. 6. Update file on non-cooperators. 7. Complete and distribute annual inspection report. 8. Complete fall pocket gopher and prairie dog control programs. 9. Continue inspection for mountain pine beetle infestations. Robert Skaff of Salem, SD Assocication of South Dakota Weed & Pest Board Ted LaFleaur, Madison, SD Chairman SD Weed & Pest Control Commission Kelly Fortune, Interior, SD, Chairman Dale Patterson, Wall, SD, LaDonna Holm, Pierre, SD, Secretary Herb Ulrikson, Canton, SD Dana Iversen, Fort Pierre, SD Duane Buckmeier, Prairie City, SD David Glissendorf, White Lake SD Lynn Deibert, Herried, SD, Vice Chairman Ronald Thyen, Hayti, SD Mike Moechnig, SDSU, Brookings, SD Paul Coughlin, GF&P, Pierre, SD Jarrod Johnson, Sch. & Pub. Lands, Pierre, SD Bill Even, SDDA Sec., Pierre, SD Jason Humphrey, DOT, Pierre, SD Mike Esser, Redfield, SD SD Assn of County W & P Supervisors Dist. 1 - Robert Feldhus, Hamlin County Dist. 2 – Ralph Hammer, Minnehaha County Dist. 3 – John Geidel, Davison Co. Dist. 4 - Mike Esser, Spink County, Chairman Dist. 5 - Win Bauer, Butte County Dist. 6 – Bill Lengkeek, Lyman County At Large – Ken Pazour, Hyde Co. Buddy Tye, Moody Co, Sec/Trea. Kristia Thomas, Faulk Co, Vice Chair
Radio ads available For anyone wishing to do radio ads, the association has had 19 ads recorded and are ready for you use. Just e-mail Gary at gpribyl@santel.net and he will e-mail them to you or the station you want to use. We will be getting more and will put them on this site when we find out how. For now, we just need to know what subject you want to high-lite. We have programs covering every thing for school classroom programs to mapping, Grasshoppers to bio-control. |
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