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♪ Montana AG Live where are you

- Good evening, welcome

to Montana Ag Live,

originating tonight from

the studios at KUSM,

on the beautiful campus of

Montana State University,

and coming to you over

the Montana Public

I'm Jack Riesselman,

I'll be your host or

coordinator tonight.

Welcome back.

I think most of you who have

seen the program in the past,

know how it works.

If you have questions

pertaining to the expertise

of our stunning

panel this evening,

then, call 'em in, and

we'll provide the answers.

It's a lot of fun,

for those of you

who haven't watched before,

if you have some questions,

please join in and call.

There'll be a telephone number

on the screen most

of the evening.

Let me start off the

evening by introducing

our panel this evening.

To the far left,

is Mary Burrows.

Mary is the extension

Plant Pathologist

at Montana State University.

Next to her, our special guest,

and we're happy to have you

down here, this evening Jasmine.

It's Jasmine Reimer,

and she is the

Noxious Weed Trust

Fund Coordinator,

based with the Department

of Agriculture in Helena.

Glad you could make it.

I think you all recognize the

lovely smile of Jane Mangold.

Jane is our invasive

weed specialist.

I like to call her

herbicide weed specialist.

Next to her, Toby, Toby Day

is our plant specialist,

horticulturalist.

And from there let me

introduce the panel.

On the left, an old

friend, Judge Bruce Lobo.

Judge Lobo used to be

the Chief Water Court Justice,

and he has volunteered to answer

the phones tonight, so welcome.

Next to Bruce is Don Seifert,

and then there's Don Mathre.

Folks, you can start

making the phone calls

anytime you like.

We have the people there

waiting to take them.

Jasmine, tell us a little about

the Noxious Weed Trust Fund,

and what you do for the state.

- Sure, so the Noxious

Weed Trust Fund,

is pretty unique to Montana.

We're the only

state that has one.

It was started in 1985,

and it was money

put into a trust

just for noxious weed

control in this state.

There are four different

types of grants

that you can get

through the trust fund,

and then I'm the coordinator,

so I put out those requests

and go through the applications,

and then I go through

and survey all the grants

that are out there in Montana.

- And for what I've seen,

since I've been here in 1985

is the Noxious Weed Trust

Fund has been very successful,

in minimizing, not

eliminating, but minimizing,

some of the effects of

weeds in this state.

You guys have done a great job.

- Everybody that's

applied and has a grant

has done a great job.

- That's good.

Okay, let's start off

this evening with Toby.

This is a question

from last week.

It said Valentine, but I think

they meant Ballantine, Montana.

They would like some sort

of berry, in the sun area,

around the house.

Any particular berry

that you would recommend,

that would thrive in a

sunny area around the house?

- Well most of our berries are,

we will be putting

in a sunny area,

so strawberries, raspberries,

those are the two that I

would normally recommend.

If you want to try something

a little different,

probably some currants,

riverbank grape would be

one, that you might look at.

And then you can

probably even get into

some of the newer

ones, like haskap.

But most of your berries are

gonna be in the sun anyway.

- All right.

- [Jane] I have a follow

up question, Toby.

Do you know anything

about the goji berries?

And isn't there some interest in

trying to grow those in Montana?

- Yeah, I think that there

is some interest in that,

and I know we are doing

a small fruit research

here on campus,

and in other research stations.

I'm not sure if goji berry

is actually in that

research plots or not,

but I know that we're

looking at a lot of different

and new kind of berries,

anything from haskaps

to bush cherries.

Those are the major

ones that I know of,

but roni I think is another one

that we're looking at also.

So there's quite a few that

we're looking at for Montana.

- Warmer temperatures,

different berries.

- Yes,

but still, really

not blueberries,

unless you're up in that

northwestern part of the state.

- Jasmine, from Scobey,

they've heard of the

Noxious Weed Trust

Fund in the past.

They'd like to know where

the dollars come from,

that funds the Noxious

Weed Trust Fund.

- So the money that

goes into the trust,

it has a $10 million cap.

So the interest every

year gets swept,

and gets put into grant funds.

We also get 1.5%

on vehicle registration

fees each year.

And those go in.

We get 100,000 from MDT,

that gets put into those grants.

And we also get corporate

forestry assistance money.

- So on an average year,

and I know it's

hard to say average,

but say in a normal year,

what amount of

money is available

for grants in the state to

control weeds or minimize them?

- Sure, through the trust fund

we award about two

million each year.

This last year in

'17, was 2.2 million.

- [Jack] That's a

considerable amount of money.

- Definitely, and

a lot of it is 50%,

so that's only half of

what's getting spent.

- Okay, thank you.

Jane, from Bozeman, is

there anything people can do

to encourage their neighbors

to control noxious weeds?

You know what, that's an

issue here in Bozeman.

I can attest to that.

- Well I think it's an

issue all across the state.

And I think in the

more urban areas,

and some of the subdivisions

and homeowners associations

in our more populated areas,

it's probably a bigger issue,

maybe then some others.

One thing you can do is

talk to your neighbor,

and try to educate your neighbor

about why noxious

weeds are an issue, and

why they should care.

There is a county

noxious weed control act,

that you are required by law

to keep your weeds from

propagating on your property,

but most neighbors

you don't want

to pull out the heavy club.

I think it's better

to talk to them first

about the issues associated

with noxious weeds.

Try to appeal to something

that's important to them.

So if you know they

like native wildflowers,

talk about how these plants

can displace native flowers.

If they have livestock,

perhaps talk about how some

of these species are toxic.

And then I would encourage

some sort of community event

to get people, like a weed-pull.

Let's all get together, do a

weed-pull for a couple hours,

and then maybe have a barbecue

or something like that.

So you kind of make

it a social event

to maybe perhaps

introduce the concepts

associated with noxious weeds.

- I'm gonna ask a

follow up question,

and both you and Jasmine

can get involved here.

It's not only private land

I'm seeing a lot

of noxious weeds,

specifically Canada

thistle and a few others,

if it's on public

land, what do you do?

Or how do you address that?

- Again, I think

visiting with whatever

agency is in charge

of managing that land.

I know that the state

and federal agencies,

they have a lot of land to try

to manage noxious weeds on,

and they typically don't have

all the funding that's

required to manage them,

to the full extent.

So I don't know if

Jasmine wants to

jump in there.

- I think if you're not sure

who to contact, I'd call

the county weed district,

or extension, and they

would have the names

of those regional

people to contact.

- We have a follow up

question that just came in,

we'll get back to

you in a minute.

But Mary, here's

one from last week.

From Forsythe, they have noticed

chokecherries and

aspens in the foothills,

but primarily chokecherries

have black knots

growing on them.

Do you know what that is,

and how would you control that?

- That's how you recognize

cherry, it has black knots.

It's a fungal disease,

creates cankers

that have that

distinctive shape.

And we recommend that

homeowners prune them out,

and while there is, they're

a natural phenomenon.

- Jasmine, this question

came in from Hardin.

They said of the $2.2 million

that are awarded in grants,

how many different grants

were involved roughly?

- Around 200.

- [Jack] 200?

Who applies for these grants?

- So we have a section of grants

that goes to each county weed

district, and reservation.

And then we also have

universities apply,

extension applies,

we have non-profits, local

county weed districts.

It's really who wants to apply.

- Is there a lower

limit, an upper limit,

of the amount of funding

people can apply for?

- There's an upper limit,

so you can get

funded up to $75,000.

- Sounds like a plan to me.

- Jane, we talked about

this ahead of time,

so if you don't fall

out of the chair

you can bring up the prop.

From Laurel, this

person called last week,

and would like you to talk about

the new Roundup

for grass control.

- Yeah, so I'm glad

this call came in,

because I was actually

planning on bringing this,

this item tonight

for a show and tell.

So just in the last

couple of weeks,

we learned that

there's a new product

on the shelf this spring,

it's called Roundup for lawns.

Now Roundup, for many

many many many years

has been the active

ingredient glyphosate

which is non-selective,

and something you wouldn't

want to use on your lawn,

unless you were trying

to get rid of it.

This product here,

Roundup for lawns,

and the 'for lawns' is down

underneath the Roundup,

is actually a combination

of four different

active ingredients, none

of which are glyphosate.

There's four different

active ingredients.

They affect a broad spectrum

of mostly broad-leafed plants.

But they can affect

grasses, pre-emergent.

I wanted to bring

this on tonight,

because we have been

receiving some calls from it,

or about it, to our

extension offices,

and to the Scutter

Diagnostic Lab.

And I also wanted

to bring it on,

because I think it

really emphasizes

the need to read a label,

and to make sure you know

what you're purchasing

and how to use it properly.

And then I also brought

it, because I know,

sometimes the panel, we

often refer to pesticides

in terms of their

active ingredients,

versus the trade name,

so this is one reason

why we do that,

because it can be very confusing

when you talk trade names.

We talk mostly in

active ingredients.

- And there's

always a potential,

if you don't read the label,

and if you just buy Roundup,

and you think it's for grass,

it's gonna wipe the grass out.

- Yeah, so if you accidentally,

this is on the shelf

right next to just

straight Roundup,

which is a completely

different active ingredient.

And if you sprayed

it on your lawns

with the intent of trying

to get rid of something

like dandelion,

or Canada thistle,

or field bind weed,

you'd end up getting

rid of everything.

- [Toby] And that

doesn't happen does it?

- It does happen.

- I was just gonna

say, I get at least,

at the very minimum, a

half dozen calls a year

of somebody that

calls me up and says,

I think I did something stupid.

And when it comes to lawns,

well I sprayed my lawn,

I already know where the

conversation is going,

and usually it's a

spouse on the other side

that's not very happy

about the situation

that this lawn was sprayed.

And I've even seen nationally,

where entire parks have been

sprayed with glyphosate,

thinking that they were

getting rid of weeds.

But it's a weedkiller.

And so that's just why

it's so important to

read those labels.

- And keep the product in

the original container.

- In the original

container, yep.

I think it's a little

bit unfortunate

that we do have,

Roundup now has a name

that's gonna be synonymous

with weedkiller,

and a broad spectrum,

because even broad spectrum,

and broadleaf control

can get really confusing

for homeowners.

It's gonna be a challenge

I think for them.

It's gonna be a challenge for

us as extension specialists

to be able to get the right

information out on this.

- Thanks Toby.

And you too Jane.

That was a very

good show and tell.

For Jane and Jasmine,

this is from Great Falls.

And they want to know,

are there any new ideas

on how to deal with cheatgrass,

and from Jasmine's end,

are there any Noxious

Weed Trust Fund grants

addressing the cheatgrass?

- I'll let Jasmine go first.

- Sure, Jane has grass rather

than cheatgrass actually.

- [Jack] Maybe she

sent this question up.

- [Jane] I did not

call that question in.

- Cheatgrass is a

regulated weed in Montana,

so the funding can't

go directly to that,

but we do fund research projects

for finding new ways

to get rid of it.

- Yeah, and I will add that

for as far as looking for

new ideas for cheatgrass.

We're always looking

for new ideas.

The trust fund has been

very generous with MSU

for the last five, six years

on some various research

projects that we're looking at,

one project that we've

done has been looking at

potential bioherbicide,

it's a fungal pathogen.

We've done work looking at

integrating herbicides

and sheep grazing

for cheatgrass control,

so we've been trying

several different things.

Where some of that research

is still preliminary,

in terms of trying to make

recommendations based on it.

And we've also done some

work with various herbicides.

- Is cheatgrass

increasing in the state?

I think it is, but that's just

an observation on my part.

- Yeah, I think

it's been increasing

over the last 15 years, or so.

When I started my position,

almost nine years ago now,

I got more questions

about cheatgrass

than anything else

when I started,

and that has continued

for the last nine years.

It's also a problem

in crops as well,

so there's research into

cropping systems as well.

- [Mary] Have you seen

any success from some

of the biologicals for

management of cheatgrass?

- Well, we were working with

pyrenophora semeniperda,

which is a fungal pathogen,

and it worked well

in the greenhouse,

but when we would

try to apply that

to various systems

out in the field,

we just couldn't get it

to do much in the field.

And then there is

a bioherbicide,

which is a bacteria,

pseudomonas fluorescens,

that is on the market

in various forms,

and we have some

research looking at

the effectiveness of that,

at the Red Bluff

Research Station.

So the jury's still out

with the biologicals.

- I was at a

conference last week,

and one of the things

they emphasized was that

you can't expect

biologicals to act like

a regular pesticide.

You have to consider

the whole system,

and multiple methods.

So it's not a spray,

and get instant results.

- And that's hard to

overcome a lot of times,

when people are--

(talking over each other)

It is, yep.

- Speaking of biological

controls, Jasmine,

does the Noxious

Weed Trust Fund fund

quite a few biological

weed control projects?

- We do in research again,

the local cooperatives,

where you're actually spraying,

or doing control on the ground,

they're just a part of the

integrated weed management.

We don't buy agents for them.

- Sounds like a good plan to me.

Mary, from Hardins, tryperus,

is it showing up

early this year?

And will the cool frosty

nights set it back?

- Thus far we have no

reports from Montana,

but it's just a little bit too

cold for tryperus just yet.

It's highly active

in Washington, Idaho,

South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas.

I expect it to be a

very good tryperus year.

At this point, in

the state of Montana,

if you're not growing

a resistant variety,

you should plan to

spray a fungicide.

- And wind currents can

bring it over the hills.

- And I'm sure it'll

ruin (muffled).

- Okay.

Another question for Jasmine.

You mentioned various

different things

that are eligible for cost.

What type of costs are

eligible for funding,

by the trust fund?

- So we have research,

and education and

and those are a little different

than our local

cooperative grants.

For research and

education developments,

you can apply for

salary benefits,

supplies, education materials,

communications, travel, things

like that, for your research.

And then our local cooperatives,

you can apply for 50%

cost share on herbicides,

on herbicide application,

so if you were gonna hire a

contractor to apply those.

Same goes with revegetation,

you can get 50% off seeds,

and then also the revegetation

costs for a contractor.

And same with

local cooperatives,

you can get money for supplies,

if you're having a

weed-pull or a weed day.

And communication and

things like that too.

- Can you get a herd of

goats if you need them?

- [Jasmine] You can, yep yep,

you can hire a goat herder.

- That doesn't surprise me.

- We don't buy the goats

but we'll help pay

for transportation.

- I have a follow up

question for Jasmine.

For the local cooperatives,

can they purchase

equipment with grant funds?

Or is it strictly

supplies and materials.

- It's just supplies and

materials, no equipment.

The local counties can, and

reservations, can buy equipment

with their grants each year.

- Thank you.

Toby, from Stevensville,

they have a grove

of four aspen trees,

probably pretty small,

because they're having

issues in the fall

with deer bucks rubbing

their antlers on the trees.

How can they prevent that?

- You've just got

to fence them out.

So some type of fencing,

some type of guard

around that tree,

is about the only way

to keep the bucks

from rubbing on those.

If it was something

with sprouts,

then there would

be other products,

but the rubbing, there's

really no product out there.

- How about the electric

fence with peanut butter?

- That would work.

Electric fence, with a little

peanut butter on there,

that way they taste it,

and they get a good idea but,

it just depends on what time

of year that's gonna be.

It doesn't always work.

I'm finding out with deer,

that deer can get through

just about any fence,

especially if it's electrified,

they seem to get through it.

It's just like any

other deer deterrent.

Somehow, they figure out a way.

- Peanut butter, if

they're conditioned,

they're coming to the fence

for two or three days,

and then you put a

little jolt to them.

I've been told they

don't like to come back.

- Right.

- Jasmine, and Jane,

from Great Falls,

are there restrictions

on which chemicals

can be used on noxious weeds,

i.e. weeds close to

water, and so forth?

- [Jane] Do you want to do that?

- Sure, there is a

list for our grants

of approved herbicides.

And they're mostly range

and pasture herbicides,

so we don't do lawns.

We don't fund chemicals for

lawns, or for CRP property.

So there are some and each

grant that uses herbicides,

has to write up an EA,

environmental assessment.

So they go through and they'll

list those mitigations,

if there's water, if there's

wells, things like that.

So they'll already address

what they're gonna

do to avoid those.

- Okay, thank you.

Mary, from Bozeman, and Toby

you can jump in on this too.

I don't care who answers it.

Had several questions on

Douglas fir and spruce,

they've noticed that

starting last winter,

many needles turned red,

and started to fall off.

What happened, and why?

- If they're toward the

interior of the tree,

that's natural.

If it's not, send us a picture,

and there's lots

and lots of reasons.

- And some of it can

be desiccation too.

- Jane, from Billings,

this person has a low

yellow-flowered weed,

that they believe is alyssum.

Is it noxious, and

is there a control?

It's in his pasture.

- Yeah, the person probably

has either yellow alyssum,

or desert alyssum,

and those are small light

yellow flowered annuals.

They typically only

grow about that tall,

depending on how much moisture,

what type of soil you have,

but it is not a noxious weed.

It is a species that has

been increasing in the state.

It seems like every year

about this time of year,

I receive quite a few

questions about it.

It's not on a lot

of herbicide labels,

but there are some products

that will work on it,

that are approved for

range and pasture.

I would just ask the

person to give me a call,

and we can talk more about that.

- And your number I think

is up on the screen?

- [Jane] Yeah, 994-5513.

- I remember that.

While I have you up,

everybody can jump on this.

It's kind of interesting.

From Belgrade, this person

has a large amount

of horseradish,

next to raised beds,

and has been battling

it for several years,

and horseradish can be

a little bit persistent.

They've had no success,

have dug out roots,

it still comes back.

What would you do?

- I would make more horseradish

and eat more beef, I guess.

- If you're at a

point where you're

pulling and pulling and pulling

and you cannot get rid of it,

then it sounds like

maybe this person

doesn't want to use chemistry.

You're probably having

to use a pesticide,

and most likely glyphosate

is gonna be the way

to get rid of it.

The timing though,

would be interesting,

if it's gonna be

now or in the fall,

or even midsummer

when it's starting

to move some of those sugars

back down to its root system,

and probably would be better.

If you really want

to get rid of it,

I would probably do an

application this spring,

come back, hit it

again in the fall,

and see what happens

by next spring.

- Yeah, that's what

I was gonna say.

It seems like such

a hardy plant that

I would guess you're

probably gonna have to do

multiple applications

of glyphosate.

- Okay, thank you.

Jasmine, this person would

like to know of some examples

of small grants for weed control

and who can receive those.

Do you have a couple of examples

of things that you have funded?

- Sure, last year

we funded a grant,

it was one of our

smallest, for only $700.

It was a small group of

people in Phillips County,

and they were really

having a hard time

battling houndstongue.

And so they applied,

they got enough money,

and they did just

a big huge day,

where everyone went

out and sprayed,

and it was more

not to get a handle

on all the

houndstongue they had,

but to really get

people involved,

and just start knowing

things about noxious weeds,

and what they can do.

We've had smaller grants.

There's one in Beaverhead

County, in Argenta.

And that one's only a couple

thousand dollars every year,

but they just keep

growing their perimeter.

So they'll handle their weeds

that they've started doing,

and then just go

further out every year.

So it's just all

they can afford,

but they're doing something.

- [Jack] And it's helping.

- [Jasmine] It's

helping, definitely.

- Good, thank you.

From Missoula,

both Toby and Mary,

this person has a mountain

ash tree with fire blight,

and Mary I'll ask you what is

the best way to control that?

And for Toby, what type of

bird-friendly berry trees

can she replace her

mountain ash with?

You first.

- So, control, first

prune while it's dormant,

and be sure to sanitize

your pruning equipment

between each cut so

you don't spread it,

and plan on replacing.

Again at this meeting

last week, we talked about

bacteria phages, for

fire blight control.

There are products that are

going to be coming

on the market,

but those are only for

prevention of bloom infection.

- Okay.

Bird-friendly berries.

- Berries, well, strawberries,

but that doesn't replace a tree.

- [Jack] Robin's love 'em.

- Yeah, robins

absolutely love 'em.

One that might be

more than a shrub,

I'm thinking of a tree

form, and that's difficult,

because we don't have

a whole lot of berries.

But chokecherries would

definitely be one.

Some of the

different buckthorns.

Anything that's in the

cutagus probably would

feed a lot of different birds.

- [Jack] My robins

love my chokecherries.

- Yeah, chockcherries

for sure, would be one.

Again, we can find some

tree forms, like schubert,

and Canada red, that

will produce berries,

and the birds will eat them.

But for the most part

the chokecherries

they're going after

is more shrub form.

So expect that you're

probably gonna get

not as many berries

with the tree forms.

- Jack, could I make a comment?

Toby mentioned buckthorn,

and I don't know which buckthorn

you were talking about,

but actually common buckthorn

was just added to our

noxious weed list.

So common buckthorn has been

a real issue in the Midwest,

mostly, the upper Midwest.

And there are areas in Montana,

especially along riparian areas

where common buckthorn

was probably planted

at some point as a

horticultural species,

and now has spread in

those riparian areas,

and it was petitioned and

added to the noxious weed list,

in February I believe it was.

- Well, I'll retract that.

I had no idea.

- And I don't know,

sometimes other species

are called buckthorn

that may not be

the same exact one

that we're talking about here.

But yeah, good to know.

- Jane, you're

on, from Forsythe,

and I like this one because

I know this is a tough weed.

Any new ideas on how to get rid

of bindweed in

vegetable gardens?

For that matter,

bindweed anyplace.

- Yeah.

- Morning glory.

- Yeah.

So, a group of us at MSU

have just been doing,

we call it a meta analysis,

looking at all the literature

that's been published

over the years

on controlling field bindweed,

in both perennial

systems and crop systems.

And that was a project

that was supported

by some funds from the

Noxious Weed Trust Fund.

We're just kind of

wrapping up that analysis,

but one of the important things

about field bindweed

that we've learned,

is that integrated

methods are a must.

Looking at, even using

herbicides longterm

does not give you control

of field bindweed.

Or tilling longterm does

not give you control.

The integration

of multiple tools,

is the only way that you can get

any sort of longterm

control of field bindweed.

- Are there any Noxious

Weed Trust Fund grants

looking at bindweed,

or addressing bindweed

that you can recall?

- Not currently,

not in our research.

There are several local coops

that have bindweed

on their list,

that they used trust

fund dollars to control.

- I understand that,

maybe I'm wrong,

I mean that's just

something I've heard

through just conversations,

that if you continually hoe

out or weed field bindweed,

every 10 days, making

sure that you get every

green part of it,

for three years,

you can eradicate it.

Is that something that?

- I have heard that as well,

and I think it probably

has its application

in certain places, like gardens.

The research we were

doing looked more at like

perennial pasture systems,

or larger cropping systems.

And I think that is

an effective method.

One of the issues we face

in cropping systems anyway,

is we've moved the importance

of conserving soil,

and no-till.

It takes that, that's

fairly intensive tilling,

it kind of takes

that off the table,

but I think for garden settings,

that's a great approach.

- There used to be for pastures,

I think a product

called Paramount,

that did a really

good job on bindweed.

I don't know if that's

registered anywhere,

do you know?

- Yeah, I think we

had this conversation

a couple of years ago,

and I looked it up afterwards

and couldn't find any

information on it,

but yeah I don't

recall for sure.

- Probably not out

there anymore.

Comment, and I like anybody

who wants to supply a comment,

we'll sure put it up.

This came from Powell, Wyoming,

and they have a special method

of controlling horseradish.

This person piled his

woodpile on top of it,

and it worked.

So thank you woodpile.

- Just bury it and

forget about it.

- I like that.

- Mary, this person has

an old caragana bush

that she cut to the ground

because of dead limbs.

Can she deep-fertilize

it to get it to regrow?

Or Toby, or whoever

wants to jump on that?

- Toby might know.

- Actually there was some

research that was done

by a former extension agent

up in Havre I believe,

that found that if

you burn the area,

you would actually

get regeneration,

so if you had a caragana hedge,

if you have the

ability to burn it,

that you would get

faster regeneration.

As far as fertilizer, I

mean, if it needs fertilizer,

if it looks sclerotic,

you might put some down,

but for the most part,

they're pretty good at getting

the nutrients they need.

So I don't think fertilizer

is gonna make it grow faster.

That being said, it

wouldn't hurt anything

if you put a complete

fertilizer down,

just be careful how

much you put down,

and be careful what you ask for.

You put enough fertilizer

down on a caragana,

and the next thing you

know it's 10 feet tall,

and you're overgrowing

your whole yard.

- That's not impossible.

You're right, thank you.

Another follow up question, and

this came in from Charlo.

To keep elk from rubbing

their antlers on trees,

you rub the trees with knapweed.

The elk don't like the smell,

and will leave the trees.

Is that true?

- I have no idea.

As long as they're

pulling their knapweed,

and then using it

to rub the trees,

they're controlling weeds

and possibly elk

in the same stroke.

- Another question.

- Going back to that though,

I do know, I have

friends of mine that,

take wild plants and rub it

all over their camouflage

when they're elk hunting.

So if it's gonna keep it away,

then be careful not to put the

knapweed on your camouflage,

because then you're gonna

be a pretty horrible hunter.

You'll never see one.

- Have you been successful

recently hunting elk.

- No, no.

But it does go back to,

there's a lot of anecdotal

information out there,

and to say that this does

not work, I can't say that.

But I also can't say

that it does work.

I don't that there's

anything science,

that's been applied

to putting knapweed

on trees to keep elk out,

but it does spur some interest

in my thought process.

- I like what Jane says,

at least they're

pulling their knapweed.

- [Toby] Yes, exactly.

- Another question from Charlo,

this caller has

seen noxious weeds

on federal lands

and reservations.

Is there any way to compel

them to do something about it,

and in that respect,

are there any

Noxious Weed Trust Fund

grants on reservations,

or federal lands?

- They are not specific.

Each reservation has

their own weed program,

so just like the counties.

Whether or not they

have enough funding,

just like some of

the federal agencies,

to control all their

weeds, and do enough,

that's another question.

But yes, we have reservations

that have grants.

Quite a few of the

Blackfeet, and Rocky Boys,

both have grants with us.

And a lot of our

federal agencies,

and our federal

lands, public lands,

are cooperators in

our projects too.

- Can you force people

on federal lands

to control their noxious weeds?

- Well, I guess one of

the things I would say is,

as people that use public lands,

we have a responsibility

as well to

avoid driving through weed

infestations if we see them.

I mean if we're

hiking on a trail,

and we see some knapweed plants

go ahead, or houndstongue,

especially at the trail head,

take some time and pull those.

Arrive at a trail

head with clean gear,

and clean equipment, or vehicle,

so you are not actually

moving weeds around,

or if you leave an

area that's infested,

clean your gear and your vehicle

before you go to a

non-infested area.

So I think in a lot of cases,

these species are moving faster

than we can control them.

I think that's pretty obvious.

And funds are

typically not adequate

to manage all the weeds,

so I think we have to

do our part as well,

as people that use

the public lands.

- I agree.

While that's up, we

have a question here.

Jasmine and Jane,

what's the difference between

a weed and a noxious weed?

- I'll let Jasmine

take that.

- A weed

is anything you don't want.

So, and dandelions

is the common one.

Some people think

dandelions are very weedy,

and other people love

them in their salads.

So it just depends.

Noxious is actually,

a state-listed weed,

that is detrimental

to agriculture, commerce,

all these things,

it's actually in our state

statute, that it's noxious.

- Are all your grants

specifically for noxious weeds,

or weeds that are classified

as noxious, rather than,

- Obnoxious?

- Obnoxious weeds.

Good term.

- Yes, they have to

be a noxious weed,

or a county-listed noxious weed.

So there are counties that list

henbane, and common mullein,

things like that

that are noxious,

they're not native

to this state,

but they're not on our list.

- Okay, thank you.

- [Toby] How do they

get on the list?

- There's a whole process.

Every two years, we go through

a weed listing process.

There's a whole group,

Jane's on that panel.

So a petition, an

announcement goes out,

that MDA is accepting

petitions for new weeds.

You go through a list,

it's the whole form

that you fill out.

You do research,

present it to the group,

and then if they need

more information,

they can ask you to find more,

and then it just gets voted on,

and goes to the

Director of Agriculture.

- Yeah, and we have

a list of criteria.

There's about I think

16 or 17 questions,

that the working group

evaluates the species against.

And some of the things

we look at are like,

do neighboring states

have it listed?

How many acres are in

neighboring states?

How many acres are in Montana?

Does it have any

toxic qualities?

We also ask if it

has any beneficial,

any beneficial qualities?

For example,

pollinator resources.

So yeah, there's a fairly

extensive list of criteria

that a species is

evaluated against.

- Okay, thank you guys.

Mary, from Ulm,

this person would like to know

if there are any effective

biological seed treatments

that help to prevent disease

in organic pulse crops,

peas, lentils, chickpeas?

- None that we have tried that

have had any field efficacy.

I've talked to my

colleagues in Washington,

and they've speculated that

since most of these products

were developed for

the Midwestern, like

that are cool soils,

and high pH's,

they don't work

very effectively.

And like we were

talking about earlier,

with biological controls,

it's not a plus-minus,

it's a cumulative process, as

part of an integrated system.

- On that note, I've seen

a lot of press recently

on products called

biostimulants.

Is anybody at MSU doing

any work on biostimulants,

at the current time?

- It's interesting

how that's defined.

And I'm trying to remember

what they called it.

I just went through a

whole workshop last week

with the IR core project.

I don't know, do

you know of anybody

working on biostimulants?

- Are they actually products

that like stimulate, beneficial.

- [Jack] Stimulate yield.

They're claimed to increase

yield, and grow crops,

and in some cases wheat.

And it's a whole new,

you see a lot about anymore,

but I don't know of any

work being done here,

or any products here

for that matter,

that are really being offered.

- I'd have to look into it.

- Okay, let's do that.

Next time you're on,

let's talk a little

about biostimulants.

From Libby, Jane this is

really a good question.

Why are dandelions

classified as a weed,

when they such an important

source of pollen for bees?

- Well I think

Jasmine's comment,

just a couple of minutes ago,

that a weed is defined,

some people like dandelions,

some people don't.

And a weed is, it's a

matter of someone's opinion.

Dandelions are not

a noxious weed,

in the sense that landowners

are required to have

a management program

for dealing with them.

So, yeah I guess I don't

know what else to say

about that particular question,

other than it is a

matter of perspective,

and dandelions are

not a state-listed,

or a county-listed

noxious weed anywhere.

- [Jack] It's personal choice.

- It's personal choice.

- And they may be a pollinator,

but in my strawberries,

I don't care.

I spent a good half hour,

and got maybe a third of the

way through my strawberries,

just taking out the dandelions.

- I always feel like

there's a bit of karma,

like I have controlled the

weeds and dandelions in my lawn,

but I plant lots of

wildflowers in my garden,

and they're non-mode parts.

- Yeah, that's a good point,

that you can do other things

with perennial flowers

and whatnot to provide

pollinator habitat

in your yard and gardens.

- Dandelions are, quite

honestly, they really are

a good pollinator

early on in the season.

I don't think that

there's a lack

of dandelions out there though.

- I don't think so.

- Something that I'm really

not too worried about,

since bees can forage

two to three miles

or whatever it is, they're

gonna find some dandelions,

even if they're not in my yard.

- I don't have many,

but there's a few.

- Jasmine, if you get a

Noxious Weed Trust Fund grant,

what's the reporting

requirements for that grant,

and how often do

they need to report?

- Sure, so there's

two reporting periods,

a fall, and then a spring,

so if you get a grant,

you are awarded in April.

You then have a

November reporting,

and it's just on

that section of time.

So what was done from

April to November.

And then it goes from

November to April,

and then whenever you

finish your grant.

You're awarded for 18 months,

so whenever it's completed,

it doesn't have

to take that long,

then you do a final report.

- Are those reports available

for anybody who would

like to see them?

- I could pull those reports.

They're not out in the public.

They're through our database,

that all of our grants

are run through.

- So if a viewer had specific

interest in Canada thistle,

and they wanted to see what

the Noxious Weed

Trust Fund grants did

in helping to control

Canada thistle,

they could get a hold

of you and get that?

- Absolutely, I can pull

some information for them.

- And on weed control,

from Kalispell,

this is a good one.

Is there a chemical control

to get rid of unwanted lilacs?

- I might let Toby

answer that question.

- Like we said, one

person's prized plant

may be another person's weed.

Yeah, actually going

back to glyphosate again,

as soon as you cut

it, cut it back,

and then paint each

one of the stems.

Within probably, I mean as

quick as you possibly can.

I think original Roundup

has it on its label,

but I'm sure there are others.

Straight glyphosate,

not even watered down,

when I heard this from one

of my master gardeners,

I actually questioned

it, and said, no way,

that can't be on the label.

And then I went back

and looked on the label,

and it sure is.

So any tree, or anything

that you cut down,

you can paint with

original Roundup,

or other products.

- Full concentrate, right?

- And I've done that in my yard,

because I have a lot

of volunteer green ash

that's coming up, and

so that'll be something

that's being done here

very soon in my yard.

- There's a question here on

the new Roundup for lawns,

and they want to know, will

that control things like

your suckers from poplar

and so forth and so on.

- Yeah it will.

- I would have to look, I

haven't read the full label.

But I have glanced at the label,

and it's a fairly complex label,

there's a lot of different

species listed on there,

and a lot of different uses.

- It has caught a

lot of us off-guard,

that this got on the market,

without really any

knowledge coming to us

so that we could really

make recommendations,

because of the label.

I have not looked at the label.

My colleagues haven't.

This is actually the first

time I've seen a bottle of it.

So it's gonna take a

little bit of time for us

to come up with proper

recommendations, on this.

- Okay, thanks Toby.

- Mary, from Townsend,

are fungicides

cost-effective in alfalfa?

There's a lot of good alfalfa

grown around Townsend.

- I would say, maybe.

We don't have any data.

I'd say if there is

a fungal problem,

that the fungicide would

deal with it, maybe.

But watch the labels

pretty carefully

about what is allowed.

- Are there any

fungicides currently?

- Yeah, Headline, and

there's probably some more.

But I'd have to

contact Emily Glunk,

and she may be doing

some research on it,

I'm not quite sure.

- From Rapelje, Toby,

this person has 100 Chinese

elm trees in his garden,

and would like to

transplant them.

Will this work?

- Yes, but I would

not do it right now.

You'll probably want

to wait until fall,

after the leaves have

fallen off of those.

Or, first thing in the spring

before they start to bud out.

As soon as they break bud,

in other words, the

buds are broken,

I'm sure in Rapelje they

probably already have,

and that's gonna be too late.

Your success rate is

gonna go in the tank,

if you tried to transplant them

from now until the leaves fall.

- Well you just made that

viewer's spring a lot easier.

A lot less work.

- [Toby] I like

questions from Rapelje.

- Be careful out there

when you reach down though,

because there's a lot

of buzzers up there.

- Are there?

- A lot of

rattlesnakes up there.

- I've actually always

wanted to go up there.

The people that sit

right in front of me

at the Bobcat game

are from Rapelje,

and I've always wanted

to go to that area.

- It's a pretty area.

- Now you might have

went and told me

that I don't want to

if there's buzzers.

- Use caution around Rapelje.

- Comment from Havre,

now I have heard of this,

and theoretically this

is old school, it works.

To keep deer out of trees,

they put Irish Spring

soap in a sock,

and hang it in the trees.

Have you heard of that one?

- I have heard of it.

I've had people

that have done it.

I even had one instance of

a person that had tried it,

put it in the tree,

and it just attracted the deer,

and the deer ate the soap.

(panelists laughing)

So, just like anything else,

I think it lasts for a

certain amount of time,

and then the deer

get used to it,

and then it's not an issue.

- [Jack] Then it's lunch.

- Yeah, really.

Short periods of

time, two weeks.

- In other words,

you're not gonna stand

by that recommendation.

- I'm not, yeah.

I think it works for a

short amount of time,

but the deer are pretty smart.

They'll figure it out.

- Jasmine, this

person wants to know

if there's grants available for,

basically pulling

weeds, noxious weeds,

instead of using herbicides

and so forth and so on.

- Well, I'm not sure what

you'd need money for that.

Maybe supplies.

A lot of our local coop grants

do have a weed-pull day.

They'll get everybody

in the cooperative area,

or CWMA, which is just

a group of people that

have adjoining lands

that have grouped up,

and made a management

plan for themselves.

And that's what our

local coops go to.

So that is incorporated

into a lot of them.

They'll just have day

where they'll barbecue,

and have everybody come with

a bag and gloves, and pull.

- You just mentioned CWMA.

What is that?

- That's a cooperative

weed management area.

- Okay, sounds good.

As a follow up,

from Great Falls,

this person would like

to know, Jane or Jasmine,

what noxious weeds

have been eliminated

or substantially

reduced in the state?

- You want me to take that one?

- Yeah.

- We can co-attack it.

Well, a couple that

I can think of,

well one is dyers woad, and

there's been a cooperative,

a dyers woad cooperative

eradication project

in Montana for 20 plus years,

many of those years supported by

the Noxious Weed Trust Fund.

So that's a species that

we've actually eradicated,

locations across the state,

and kept other infestations

from getting any larger.

And that's a real

accomplishment,

because dyers woad is

just across our border,

especially in

southwestern Montana,

down into Idaho.

Common crupina was

a species that was

on the state noxious

weed list for many years,

and was actually taken

off the noxious weed list,

about maybe seven

years ago, or so,

when we just

determined that Montana

doesn't have the

habitat for that.

We'd been watching for it,

and we've kind of

determined that Montana

doesn't have the habitat

for it to establish.

Jasmine, I don't know if

you can think of any others?

- The dyers woad,

we have task forces

for a lot of our

really aggressive weeds

that are really isolated,

our priority one A and B's.

And so, like dyers

woad is one of them.

We have a person that's

in charge of that project,

and so she knows where

all of the dyers woad is,

in Montana.

Same with yellow star thistle.

There's been a few

plants here and there,

and we've eradicated

those from the state,

but we're always watching.

- Okay, thank you.

Mary, interesting

question that actually

came in last week, I

just found it again.

This person has a conifer,

doesn't say what type,

that lost all the bark from

three foot above the ground,

to 20 foot high.

The bark fell off

is on the ground.

Has horizontal lines

also in the tree.

What is it, and will it

happen to the other trees?

Sample, right?

- That's a great question.

Call 994-5150.

Email pictures to

diagnostics@montana.edu,

or contact your local

county extension office.

We'll try to figure it out.

- [Jack] It's kind

of interesting.

- That is an interesting one.

- [Jack] I have no clue

what that might be.

- The horizontal

lines makes me think

it might be a sapsucker.

- [Jack] Sapsucker, yeah.

- That's something that

you might want to search

on a search engine,

sapsucker damage,

and that way you'd get

a better understanding,

but whenever I hear

lines, it's usually.

- [Jack] Especially horizontal.

- Especially horizontal.

- Okay Jasmine, from Billings,

it used to be that

a certain percentage

of sales of commercial

ag chemicals

would go into the trust fund.

Is this still true?

- Nope, that was true

when the trust fund

was first started,

when I think the cap

was five million.

So as soon as the

trust hit five million,

that surcharge was taken off.

The legislature added

another five million,

and that made our 10.

- Okay, thank you.

Fromberg,

this person wants to know,

and they probably had

worms in their apple trees,

but they want to know

when, and what to apply

for both insects and diseases

in apples to prevent bad apples.

- I think we need a

little bit more specific,

we have to actually

identify the pests

that they're dealing with

before we make any

sort of recommendation.

- Up in the Fromberg area,

I think the biggest issue

is probably kotaline moth.

And we're actually gonna

be putting out ag alerts

on kotaline moth, because I

know that we're gonna be doing

some trapping all

over the state,

to figure out when to start

spraying with those products.

And in kotaline moth,

spenocid followed

with I think a permethrin,

is usually what we're

recommending at this point.

- And that brings up,

we're also trying to

use our Facebook page

for the Scutter Lab to

get those alerts out.

There's an urban alert

you can sign up for,

by email and text,

or the ag alerts

by email and text.

And then a few of us

have started tweeting.

- [Toby] No!

- Yes.

- Who else has Twitter?

I thought we were immune

to that in Montana.

The whole country

talks about Twitter.

- Well, my Midwestern colleagues

said that it was a really good

way to get information out.

- [Jack] What's wrong

with the telephone?

- That's really passe.

- Nobody answers their phone,

no one answers

their phone anymore.

- We're gonna have to get

Jack to start tweeting.

- I got an unlimited

texting plan, finally.

- All right, let's move on

to Jane, for knapweed

and houndstongue,

what chemicals can

they use to control,

and when should they

apply those chemicals.

- Well there's lots of

options for knapweed.

I'm assuming this is

range and pasture,

but I probably shouldn't

make that assumption.

But the recommendations

I would make,

are based on range and pasture,

but clopyralid,

aminopyralid,

what am I missing?

Those are two good ones.

Picloram.

The same herbicides that

affect knapweed will not

touch houndstongue.

And the best products

for houndstongue

is something

containing metsulfuron.

And there are products out there

that have two different

active ingredients

that would affect both.

- Can you dig houndstongue

pretty effectively.

- Yes.

It's lots of fun.

It's my favorite weed to pull.

Yeah, so if you

don't have very much.

Pulling both knapweed and

houndstongue are feasible.

- I get the feeling that

every time you go on a hike,

or a float trip, that it

takes about an hour and a half

to get out of the parking lot.

- Yeah, my husband doesn't

let me linger too long.

But he'll amuse me for a while.

- Jasmine, this person

would like to know,

what the timeframe for small

Noxious Weed Trust

Fund grants are.

When do yo apply?

- Sure, so our applications,

our funding opportunities

go out in about June-July,

usually at the

beginning of July.

You have until January 6th

to fill out your application,

and get that in.

And that's done

at fundingmt.org.

So you can fill it out there.

And then if you apply,

we have a hearing in March.

So you'll come in front

of our trust fund council,

present your application,

or your project,

and then funding

awards go out in April,

and then you have 18

months to finish that.

- Okay, I appreciate

that, and thank you.

Is there a pretty simple

form for these people

to fill out online?

- So our grants go through

some sort of organization,

so the county weed

district extension,

conservation district.

We just need a group with

a firm accounting system

for claims and reimbursements.

- Thank you.

Jane, we're about out of time,

but I'm gonna give you

a quick one to answer.

This person wants to get rid

of watercress in a creek.

Any chemicals that can be used?

- I have no idea.

- [Jack] That is a

nice short answer.

- Give me a call and

we can talk about it.

Herbicides and water, you

have to be very careful.

- Okay.

Toby, quickly, when

can they plant garlic?

Best time?

- Best time's in the fall,

but if you can get

it in the ground,

get it in the ground,

you probably can

still get garlic,

in most of the state.

- Thank you.

Thank the panel.

Jasmine, a special thanks

to you for coming down.

We learned a lot about the

Noxious Weed Trust Fund tonight.

We will be back next week.

Our guest next week

will be Bob Quinn.

Bob is one of the

most successful

organic large-scale producers

in the state of

Montana, from Big Sandy.

Join us next week,

thanks for watching.

Everyone have a good

week, goodnight.

(light bluegrass music)

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Cashman Nursery and Landscaping,

and the Gallatin Gardeners Club.

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