An Air Tractor sprays a field in Buffalo County, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — Commercial pasture spraying will come to an end after a vote by the Buffalo County Commissioners during their meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Weed Superintendent Bret Stubbs appeared during the meeting in regards to a decision to end commercial pasture spraying.
Stubbs noted that the commissioners had discussed ending pasture spraying in the past but never took a formal vote.
Ceasing pasture spraying operations would allow the county weed control to focus on noxious and common weeds in road ditches, Stubbs said. He added that this also creates a push for the landowners to handle noxious weeds on their properties.
Stubbs said that if noxious weeds are found on a property, Weed Control will send a latter to the landowner and if the issues persist, then they will directly contact them, via phone or in-person.
If no action is taken, then a 10-day notice will be issued and after that the county will spray the weeds at the landowner’s expense. Stubbs said the county does not wish to lean on enforcement but pushes for the landowners to preemptively take care of noxious weeds on their property.
Common noxious weeds in Nebraska include Canada Thistle, Japanese Knotweed, Leafy Spurge, Musk Thistle, Phragmites, Plumeless Thistle, Purple Loosestrife, Saltcedar, Knapweeds and Sericia Lespedeza.
The commissioners voted unanimously to end commercial pasture spraying.
Stubbs also appeared with the 2025 weed control annual report, he said only changes to the report were the open files kept by the state, which randomly inspects area across the county for noxious weeds.
Stubbs said the main culprits in the county are phragmites and leafy spurge in irrigation ditches. He also noted phragmites were treated at the Buffalo County Recreation Area-Ravenna Lake.
