The Weed Wrangler – February 2015

When most of us think of weed control, it’s usually in the context of our own yard, or neighborhood, and that’s not unexpected. After all, weeds are primarily what keep us from achieving the look and feel we try to portrait with our landscaping.

Let’s switch gears a bit, and discuss economic impacts. When asked what the economic impact of weeds has in the context of our individual properties, it’s difficult to answer because we rarely extract in income from our small tract. After all, it’s aesthetics and not income that we’re concerned with at this scale, right?

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) studied 25 of the most devastating ‘noxious’ weeds, and estimated that that the economic losses due to these plants was about $83.5 million in personal income from the state’s economy! In other words, noxious weeds are taking over lands that could otherwise be producing timber or other crops, and removing that income from the economy of Oregon. Armenian blackberry and Scotch broom alone account for as much as 95% of that figure! The remaining 5% in losses are due to the other 116 ‘noxious’ weeds listed by the ODA.

That same report referenced a 2004 study that stated the United States as a whole loses as much as $120 billion annually in the agriculture sector alone. Control efforts can take any number of shapes and formats. For instance, some efforts focus their time and energy in ‘on-the-ground’ projects, while others focus on education and awareness, both of which are necessary. Most efforts are expensive, and take many years to complete (if indeed they’re ever truly completed). Tansy Ragwort in western Oregon, for instance, has taken 20 years to pay off. Those efforts were primarily as a result of biological controls (insects).

Not all noxious weeds have biological controls associated with them, and therefore must be controlled and managed by way of other methods (manual, chemical, etc).

All noxious weed infestations begin as small, unnoticed patches—a plant here, a plant there. Know this—a small patch of heretofore unreported plants could be on YOUR property, and by being aware and informed, YOU could be the reason it doesn’t reach endemic proportions, costing our economy millions.