Thistle Management on Lodgepole Creek

Compelled by State laws requiring landowners to control noxious weeds, farmers and ranchers in Deuel County, Nebraska, recognized the need for innovative strategies to manage the Canada thistle that prevailed along Lodgepole Creek. “The question was how to get the farmers and ranchers to work together to manage a pest that affected the entire region,” says Deuel County NRCS Conservationist Anita Nein.  Nonetheless, Nein recruited 12 Deuel County producers and secured a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) farmer/rancher grant to research biological controls and maintain profitability for the producers whose land bordered the creek.

NRCS spearheaded the project by facilitating workshops and tours, tracking the practices used, and providing technical information. Other project partners, including University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension, South Platte Natural Resource District, Farm Services Agency, Deuel County Weed Authority, and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission rounded out the project team with expertise and vital practical experience.

Starting in 2003, participants studied the life cycles of the noxious weeds and the insects proposed for control, sharing information along the way. After monitoring the thistle populations, they took action, focusing on 1000 rangeland and non-tillable acres adjacent to the creek. Some 13,000 insects (including stem mining weevil, stem gall fly, and defoliating beetle) were released in 2003 and 2004 to attack Canada thistle, resulting in 10 to 40 percent damage rates to thistles in areas where two to three types of insects were released. Other methods, including controlled grazing, mowing, grass seeding, and fencing, showed promise but none of the rates of control approached those achieved with applications of herbicides applied after the first freeze.

Although results verified that there will be no silver bullet to the thistle management problem, producers were encouraged by the results, and plan to explore strategies for managing the existing insect population as part of the overall weed management strategy. More importantly, says Nein, “participants emerged from the project with a positive attitude about working together to develop a multi-faceted approach to controlling thistle in the region.”

About SARE
Since 1988, SARE has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide grants program. The program, administered by  CSREES and USDA, funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems and natural resources.

NRCS field office professionals frequently collaborate on SARE-funded projects and are valuable partners to the SARE program. NRCS staff serve on SARE’s national Operations Committee, on regional Administrative Councils, on State committees and are actively engaged as technical advisers and collaborators on SARE-funded research grants around the U.S.

For more information, visit the SARE website or for more information about the regional SARE programs, click on the region area of the map below.

Your contact is Diana Friedman, SARE research associate, at 301-504-6422.