Off-roading spreads weeds

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Your son's off-roading hobby just might be bringing weed seeds back to your farm.

According to the Weed Society of America, a study by Montana State University blames off-roading vehicles for routinely transporting invasive weed seeds. Seeds can stick on tires, bumpers, wheel wells and the undersides of vehicles and travel for miles before they fall off.

The worst time for transportation is in the fall, when wet conditions help seeds to stick. Distance is no barrier and a hundred miles of travel is common. Typically, weeds stay on dried mud on trucks and ATVs, then fall off when it rains again. The study found that vehicles picked up almost 20 times more seeds off trail than on the trail.

The suggested solution is to wash vehicles for at least six minutes. Land managers where invasive species are present should close off areas to traffic when fields are wet. BF