Landowners in southern Cache County, Utah have noticed large areas of infestation of medusahead, an aggressive noxious winter weed first observed in southern Cache County in 1989. Because of its high silica content, medusahead cannot be eaten by livestock or wildlife. It also degrades slowly, building up a thick thatch that smothers nearby vegetation. Farmers are concerned that if medusahead continues to spread, it will destroy the grazing values on the foothills and increase the fire hazard.

Burning patches of medusahead

A group of area farmers has received a Western SARE Farmer/Rancher grant for their proposal to start a medusahead control and reclamation program. With the help of Extension Weed Specialist Steven Dewey, the group has developed three different herbicide treatments that will each be sprayed on one medusahead patch on five different farms. The patches will first be burned and then sprayed with the herbicide treatments. Various grasses will then be planted on these patches by Blair Waldron, a USDA/ARS Range Specialist. Each half of a patch will be seeded to a different grass mix. A small portion of each patch will be seeded to Forage Kochia but not sprayed because herbicides would kill the Kochia.

The grasses will not be grazed for two years to allow them to establish and to help prevent the return of medusahead. Once grazing is introduced, the group will develop grazing management strategies that will help maintain the health of the grasses and prevent the reinvasion of medusahead. Results will be measured each spring and fall by the percent of medusahead reduction and rating of grass establishment. The palatability of each grass species will also be determined.

This group will share its findings with other landowners in the area that have medusahead infestations. They also hope that this information will be useful in other areas in the West where medusahead is a problem.