| Show will weeds win in fight for right to utah farms by director william peterson U S A C extension service one old philosopher has said that opposing forces to ones progress are a test of ones ability and and integrity to cope with life weeds are certainly an opposing force to successful crop production and the battle Is on are arc we losing or gaining are the front lines ines retreating from the tha edge of t the I 1 weed pitch or are they holding and again will go forward As one travels over tile lie farms in n the state of utah one cannot help hut but be impressed with the thousands of acres of good land given to the growing of weeds since the beginning of agriculture in the state some weeds have been present certainly enough to stimulate integrity and action such weeds are rod red roots pig weeds poverty weed dandelions grass etc have become so common that they are looked upon as constant associates in the gardens they have been attacked with certain procedure hoed up as they came thru the ground and disappeared tor for the season now there has come into the farm effort a new and more powerful more vigorous and better organized enemy in the form of a perennial weed with a running root system the roots are well entrenched and continue spreading though the surface is cut up occasion these weeds have taken possession ot of not only valuable acres but fence lines ditch banks roads railroad right ot of ways until the situation has changed from an individual to a community program there is a mortgage bearing a high interest rate quietly spreading over the land and the mortgage Is spreading too rapidly when one analyzes the progress these weeds are making on the acres of irrigated land in the state of 0 utah and computes the spread that starts today in the same proportion with the progress made from t the he start of 10 years ago one is led to wonder it if we are losing the battle the state and counties have recognized this situation and made appropriations for chemicals to tight fight the weeds the effort has been effective on some types but there are few cases of complete elimination that have been observed from this process some may question whether the process has been beneficial also whether it has taken the responsibility of the battle from the individual and placed it into the hands of the state and the individual has grown slack in his hia own effort as a result now the word comes that the state and counties can n no I 1 longer nger carry on the battle in a chemical way these infested lands cannot be farmed at a profit nor can they pay taxes unless they are cleaned up and put in full production the solution of the problem calls for intense individual and community effort in a program that will it if possible eliminate not just control weeds weeds it means a program ot of ditch bank treatment probably the renewal of fence lines and clean cultivation it Is evident that a years clean cultivation will eliminate the weeds but with only a traction fraction ot of the land in tile the state stale under cultivation the infestation fe is 13 reaching ou on tar far beyond the cultivated areas especially alon alona the streams which makes the b att LI look to be everlasting forces must be gathered in relentless vigilance to hold the lines and to 0 o keep at least the good irrigated lands of the state free from weeds and nd capable of 0 clean crop production the state department of agriculture ure will help the farm bureau has a i weed eradication program the extension service will give its best effort and these forces are not sufficient without a well planned program and the best effort 0 of f each individual farmer |
