12 Dec KARA Participates in KDA Stakeholder Meeting on Proposed Noxious Weed Regulations
On Thursday, December 12, 2024, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association (KARA) participated in the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture’s (KDA) Plant Protection and Weed Control Program stakeholder meeting to discuss proposed changes to the noxious weed list in agency regulations.
The proposed changes, in the document available via the link below, were recommended to KDA Secretary Mike Beam by the Noxious Weed Advisory Board. KARA maintains a seat on the Noxious Weed Advisory Board. There were about a dozen attendees to the stakeholder meeting.
The proposed regulation changes will remove pignut from the state noxious weed list, and will add the following five noxious weeds to the list:
- Amur honeysuckle
- Common teasels
- Cutleaf teasels
- Spotted knapweeds
- Diffuse knapweeds
The regulations will include “official control plans” for each proposed species, and an “Official Control Method” template document. Other proposed changes will be a categorization of the biological control agents in the relevant control plans to identify those that are available for use without a permit. Additionally, the proposed change will remove two herbicides from the control plans of Johnsongrass (metsulfuron methyl) and Sericea lespedeza (picloram), and the addition of one herbicide (imazapyr) to the control plan of Kudzu. There will be no changes to the list of herbicides approved for cost share.
The agency will consider changes from stakeholders and then begin the regulation amendment process.