Corporate bribery?

[cswilson]

Geez I don't remember saying anything like that but I'd find it pretty interesting if a weed cop and a mountie pulled up in my yard to say the least. My pastures look one heck of alot more pristiine and weed free -than the unsprayed zero till farm fields around me-am I whining to the municipality-unnhuh. I think it would be pretty oppressive if a bunch of plow jockeys dictated to me what my cows can graze.We actually muddle along quite well here in Sask. without the Albetta influence lol.

[cswilson]

I don't know when the weed act came into effect here in AB., but I think it originally was intended to ensure that weeds did not take over lands that were used to grow crops etc.
Actually, mounties do not enter into the picture here as far as weeds go, weed inspectors that are employed by each municipality are responsible for providing information to farmers on how to treat and get rid of noxious weeds.
Each municipality must have a weed inspector and administer the weed and pest act in order to be given their annual Agricultural Service Board grant. For the most part cswilson, it just encourages farmers to implement good farming practices.

[cswilson]

In a pasture situation weeds are just a symptom of a greater ill-nature is going to cover the ground with something and weeds always come before the grass. I think most chem farmers have a preconceived notion of what a chemical free ranch would look like-most times the wrong one. A properly managed pasture is not always a mat of weeds though it may of been at one time-as are most coneventionally farmed hay fields on their early years. I guess I'm confident I can control weeds through management not the spray can. We pretty much eliminated thistle from a pasture with one year of total rest then with grazing after that. To each is own but chequebook farming isn't always the best either.

[cswilson]

Tall buttercup is a weed that is on the list of undesireables here in AB., and this year it seems as though fields are yellow with the stuff.
Scentless chammomile usually shows up whenever soil is moved, eg: roadwork, oilfield construction etc. Many farmers have a clause in their surface leases with oil companies requiring that all equipment moved onsite must be steamed to ensure weedseeds aren't transported.

I have grazon sprayed in my pastures to control thistles when necessary, my darn limo cows prefer grasses to thistles so I have to use chemical control !

[grassfarmer]

That's a shame - not only do you spend money on Grazon, you waste plant material that could have been eaten(thistles) and of course you will kill your source of free nitrogen(legumes). I think the concept of "good" farming needs to be re-examined from a modern environmental and profitability view point. Way back when it was judged that "good farming" was perfect monocultures of selected plants - without considering that nature abhors monocultures so to "defeat" her you have to arm yourself with an array of pesticides and herbicides to kill everything but the selected "good" plant. By doing so you simplify the insect, bird and plant communities to the point that your selected plant is guaranteed to be under even greater attack by "weeds" and insect plagues like grasshoppers. Modern chemical farming was designed by the the smartest parasites in the food chain - the ag supply corporations. I wish someone could find a way to dispose of them.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, better try and sell your theory to AAFRD, so they can initiate amendments to the Provincial Weed and Pest legislation in order that we aren't violating it by having pastures full of thistles.
In fact, I will NOT buy any hay from a location that has ever had a weed notice for thistles, I have spent enough time and resources getting it eradicated from my own fields, I sure don't need to buy the damn stuff !!

[grassfarmer]

Emrald1, I don't need to get the rules on weed control changed because the system I use does not result in thistle or other serious weed problems that would cause my county any concerns.
I was trying to raise an alternative way to to get rid of thistles. When you say you have spent enough time and resources getting them eradicated from your own fields and at the same time tell us that you spray for thistles every other year it looks to me like you are not succeeding in eradicating thistles, rather you are perpetuating the problem.
My post above was an attempt to explain why selectivly spraying for "pest" weeds using chemicals can never succeed longterm. I'm not making this stuff up, rather repeating the results of research done by learned people like Allan Savory.
Besides why should we think Government agencies are the fount of all knowledge when it comes to implementing smart legislation?
Look at the US example of the BLM/ National park administrators. To this day many are still blaming
"overgrazing" for causing erosion and desertification of some of their land when Savory clearly proved 30 years ago that it was in fact removing the animals from the land that had caused the problem.

[cswilson]

Emerald I should tell you I ranch amongst some of the best and fussiest farmers in Sask. I share fencelines with them so obviously my 'weeds' aren't that big a problem.

[silverback]

Maybe I grew up under a rock, but I was always taught that thistle seed is airborne. No? If the theory is correct, the reason one needs to re-spray is because there is always new seed blowing in from the neighbors.

Maybe I am wrong.

[grassfarmer]

There is a good article on Canada thistles at: www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/weedsinfo/Cirsium_arvense.htm

A quote from the article: "Canada thistle flourishes where over-grazing, cultivation or mulching has created open habitat for it. The plant does not do well in tight and healthy ecosystems."