(Okoboji)– Meeting in a rare Wednesday session, the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors this (Wed.) morning heard the annual report from County Weed Commissioner Charles Vigdal. He said he responded to 29 complaints of noxious weeds this year and gave 20 verbal warnings. Vigdal says most of those pertained to Canadian Thistles.
He says they’re closely monitoring some relatively new noxious weeds, including leafy spurge…
“That’s a newer noxious weed that we have around here. It’s very hard to get rid of. It spreads a lot. We don’t have it in a lot of places in Dickinson county but out in South Dakota it is everywhere. This one I’m kind of worried about because you can pick it, throw it on the ground, and it grows again. You can spray it and spray it and spray it, and it will come back. It’s poisonous to cattle, it will come in and take over a whole area. It’s a nasty one.”
Vigdal says he’s keeping a close eye on some ornamental grasses such as Chinese Silver Grass. He says many people plant it in their yards and gardens, only to find out later how invasive it is…
“I’m going to try to go to some of these horticulture places and try to get them to stop selling it. I know it’s very pretty, more and more people talk to me about it and ask me what it is and how they can get it. People put it in their ditches or they put it in their yards. People just love this grass, but it really takes over. There’s some spots in Dickinson county it’s all in the right of way and it’s almost impossible to get it out once it’s in there.”
Vigdal’s report also includes some things he’d like to see done on the state level…
“I would like them to keep up on some of these noxious weeds. I don’t know how they put noxious weeds on the list. I think there are some that should be on there that aren’t. Also, good collaboration with state agencies. I talk to the Iowa DNR if they have a problem with a lot of their stuff on their property because I do get complaints about DNR property and also D.O.T property, and so keeping those lines of communication open. And then also provide more training and guidance for weed commissioners and stuff with the Department of Ag.”
Vigdal also gave an update on the county’s Roadside Vegetation Management program. We’ll have more on that in future newscasts.
