Pa. agency to help farmland owners control noxious weeds

March 06, 2007

A Pennsylvania agency will be trying this summer to increase the awareness and control of noxious and invasive weeds on farm land in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program in the state.

The Pennsylvania Resource Conservation & Development aims to help landowners learn to these bad weeds, while emphasizing the beneficial plants that improve wildlife habitat.

Controlling noxious weeds is a requirement in the conservation reserve program.

Some people have trouble recognizing them in their early and middle stages before they become established and more difficult to control.

Since many plants beneficial to wildlife "may be mistaken for noxious or invasive plants, it is equally important to help landowners identify the desirable plant species among the CREP plantings," the agency said in a news release.

The Resource Conservation & Development Councils expect to begin the Weed Control/Wildlife Habitat assistance project this month and complete it by October.

Depending on the success of the project and how much money is available, it may continue for years, the release said.

The nine RC&D Councils in Pennsylvania plan to distribute information, offer workshops and presentations, and visit farms to help landowners.

For more information on your local RC&D Council, check out www.parcd.org/ on the Web.

Technical assistance and money for this project are coming from the USDA Farm Service Agency and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Other partners include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Penn State Cooperative Extension, PA DEP, PA DCNR, and the PA Game Commission.

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