This week, the Wright County Board authorized Ag Inspector Ken Johnson and Kerry Saxton of the Wright County Soil and Water Conservation District to seek a grant to create a cooperative weed management area. The goal would be a cooperative effort to combat invasive species, such as buckthorn and wild parsnip (shown).
Click here for last summer’s article on wild parsnip
Click here for a map of the invasion

The focus was on wild parsnip (shown again), and there was grave concern on the part of Johnson, Saxton, and the commissioners that time is running out, and if something is not done soon to control the spread of wild parsnip, it may soon be too late.

Johnson and Saxton explained that wild parsnip started appearing in this area fairly recently, although it has long been a problem in the south. So far, it has been spreading most quickly along transportation corridors.

Saxton said the proposed cooperative effort might provied a chance to control wild parsnip, but said “trying to take on buckthorn without a good group in place is a losing proposition – there is just too much of it.

Wild parsnip is a perennial herbacious plant that spends one or more years in the rosette stage (about six inches high), and then blooms, growing to a height of about four feet before it dies.

The toxic sap or juice of the wild parsnip in contact with the skin can cause a rash, blistering, and skin discoloration.