The photo below was taken at the end of July after those few big rains we received. Not only was the nutrient rich top soil lost, but the moisture wasn’t captured either. Ok, I realize we don’t have a 3 or 4 inch rain event in Baca County very often. But when we do, this is what can happen if conventional farming practices are being used.

The good news is that NRCS has cost-share programs like EQIP that can help farmers implement practices such as terraces, as well as financial incentives to assist with residue management, pest management, and nutrient management. See the photo below. This picture was taken after the same rainfall event.  Notice how nicely the terrace captured the moisture.

Upper Left:  Mike Rigirozzi inspects the flowers on a Dalmatian Toadflax plant.

 Colorado Department of Ag’s High Plains Weed Specialist Mike Rigirozzi came for a site visit on August 24, 2009. He manages one of the weed grants BCCD received for the 2009 season. This High Plains Invasives grant helped us scout for and spray the Dalmatian Toadflax we are addressing. The other invasives we scouted the county for on this grant but did NOT find in Baca included diffuse knapweed, Russian knapweed, spotted knapweed, and leafy spurge.

As you can see from the photos above, we have two varieties of Toadflax we are spraying:  Dalmatian and a hybrid narrow leaf Dalmatian.