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Show Weeds Are Cost To Landowners The eradication of noxious weeds imposes staggering costs upon landowners, counties, am' State; running into thousands of dollars annually according to George L. Hobson, Stale weed supervisor. One of the most rapid means of spreading weed seeds is by farm machinery machin-ery moving from noxious weed infested districts to clean areas. The law requires every operator oper-ator of a self-binder, combine harvester, and threshing maeh ine to obtain a permit from the State Department of Agricult ture.. This permit is issued with out cost to operdators. The lau further requires that operators clean their machines before moving them from a weed in tested farm onto the public highway or other private pro perty, Mr. Hobson stated. If machines are not cleaned properly, seemingly harmless weeds, such as Wild Morning Glory, Canda Thistle, White Top Russian Knapweeds, and many others remain on or in farm equipment and are transported from farm to farm, he said. Twc or three years later, landowners discover these pests on their land. Weeds often double the cost of production, and in many cases weed infested land mus1 be abandoned. Landowners could avoid any danger of this, by requiring custom operators to clean their machines before entering the property. Before an operator moves his equipment onto a farm, the farm manager should ask the operator if he has a permit, and of he has properly cleaned his machine. Screens, tops of machines, mach-ines, conveyers, shelves, etc.. should be checked for weed seeds before operators are began. "Landowners have a responsibility respon-sibility to prevent the spread of weeds and the waste that results While great improvement has been noted in the past few years, and cooperating landowners and operators should be commended weeds transported by machinery still presents a perplexing pro blem," Mr. Hobson concluded. |