2 weeks Ago
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Agricultural economists and invasive weed specialists at the University of Wyoming have released a new report on the economic impacts of 10 invasive weeds in Wyoming. The pilot study, which assesses both current and potential economic impacts, was developed in response to Governor Gordon’s 2020 Invasive Species Initiative Report.
Collaborators include all Wyoming Weed and Pest Control districts and the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council Guiding Principles Committee. “This report represents an important step to better understanding the impacts of invasive weeds on Wyoming’s agricultural economy and gives some insight into how bad it could be if such weeds were left unchecked,” said co-author Brian Mealor, director of the Sheridan Research and Extension Center and the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE). To estimate each weed’s statewide and county-level economic impacts on agriculture, the study examined current grazing and crop value losses due to infestation and losses if each species were permitted to spread, unmanaged, into all potentially suitable habitat.
The 10 species analyzed in the new report are cheatgrass, hoary cress, leafy spurge, medusahead, Palmer amaranth, perennial pepperweed, Russian knapweed, Russian olive, ventenata and yellow starthistle. For each weed, direct economic impacts were estimated as losses in cash rent for agricultural land currently or potentially infested. The authors found that “while current estimated statewide grazing losses are in the tens of millions of dollars annually, county-level impacts vary widely.
” Of the 10 weeds included in the study, cheatgrass poses the most economically damaging current and future threat to Wyoming agriculture. The authors estimate that the weed’s future impact may exceed $110 million annually if left unmanaged. Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
