Palmer Amaranth is the number one weed problem in the country.
It was first found in North Dakota this summer, and the NDSU Extension Service is taking a “zero tolerance” policy against the weed.
The aggressive weed has been discovered in five counties in North Dakota, and there is one question on everyone’s mind in Stark County when it comes to Palmer Amaranth.
“Is it in Stark County?, ” said Kurt Froelich, NDSU Extension Agent for Stark/ Billings County.
It hasn’t been found in the county, but Froelich said they are being just as aggressive as the weed is, in educating people about it.
“We have put up some posters. . . its been in the news releases. . . NDSU has developed a specific website for it”. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/palmeramaranth
Stark County Weed Officer Travis Jepson said, the plant is new to the area, so its important this information gets out there because “people don’t have that background of what it looks like right away”.
A couple of ways the plant can be distinguished is by its egg shaped leaves and small spike on the tip of the leaves, but also by its rate of growth.
NDSU Extension Services said the plant can grow to be six to eight feet tall, and grow two to three inches per day in “optimum conditions”.
“Lets say that on Monday you are walking a field and you see palmer Amaranth. The four inch weed could be 12 to 14 inches tall by Thursday, ” said Tom Peters, NDSU Extension sugar beet agronomist.
In Stark County the weeds that give people the biggest issues are absinthe wormwood, leafy spurge, and Canadian thistle, but none of them can damage a field like Palmer Amaranth.
Froelich said in the Southern United States there have been reports of the weed reducing yields by 70 to 80 percent.
He also said the weed is also prone to be resistant to herbicides.
“We would want to get that plant removed completely. . . probably bag that plant. . . probably get it burnt,” said Froelich.
The weed has been detected in five counties (McIntosh, Benson, Dickey, Foster and Richland) mostly in soybean fields, which Froelich said could work to Stark County’s advantage.
“We have soybeans(Southwestern North Dakota). Not to the degree that the Eastern North Dakota has or Central North Dakota has”.
Winter is coming and the plant will lie dormant before it spreads any further, but come the Spring producers should be diligent in check their fields, because Palmer Amaranth is a “prolific seed producer- up to 1 million seeds per plant” according to NDSU.
Peters said the weed may have arrived in the North Dakota by migratory birds or alternative feed sources purchased out of state.
Credit: myndnow.com
