Ranchland Managers Have a New Tool to Fight Invasive Annual Grass

Esplanade^® 200 SC herbicide Emergency Exemption is in place for Montana, Wyoming and Utah

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Jun 10, 2019, 11:00 ET

CARY, N.C., June 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranchland managers who have long worried about the quality of forage available for their livestock have a new tool to fight the invasive annual grasses medusahead and ventenata. Esplanade^® 200 SC, a pre-emergent herbicide from Bayer, has received a Section 18 Emergency Exemption in Montana, Wyoming and Utah for use on rangeland, pasture and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres.

"These two grasses are even more devastating than cheatgrass, mainly due to extremely low forage value and because they will out-compete the cheatgrass," said Harry Quicke, Bayer western vegetative management stewardship and development manager. "More than 7,000 acres of Wyoming rangeland have been sprayed to stop the spread, and more needs to be done to safeguard land in these states."

It is important to locate these new invaders and to treat them before they spread and further degrade rangeland habitat. In the past, herbicide treatments have been inconsistent or only provided control for a short period of time. Esplanade herbicide is changing that. The pre-emergent herbicide is showing control over multiple years with just one application.

Justin Hossfeld, Out West LLC agricultural management specialist said, "On rangeland specifically, control of medusahead and ventenata means improvement of forage and yield. Where we have used Esplanade, we doubled the total digestible nutrients in our treated sites. We have been able to maintain open space and allow desirable grasses to grow. In fact, in the treated areas, I don't have to use feed supplements at all."

Quicke added that it's rewarding to be part of restoring desirable perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs to infested rangeland and natural areas. "For the first time we can deplete the annual grass seedbank, reduce wildfire risk and give desirable perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs the opportunity to grow."

The Emergency Exemption allows for one foliar application of Esplanade per year applied by ground boom, backpack sprayer or aerial equipment at a single rate of 5 fl. oz/A, per year. Livestock are not allowed to graze in treated areas within two weeks of treatment.

Invasive annual grass such as cheatgrass, medusahead and ventenata are spreading at an alarming rate and pose a major threat to western rangeland and natural areas. When invasive annual grass dominates a landscape, the result is more frequent wildfires, degraded wildlife and pollinator habitat, as well as the loss of ecosystem diversity.

Annual grass increases wildfire frequency because the fine fuels on the ground steadily increase every year. "Wildfires will severely injure or kill desirable perennial species and they don't have time to recover," Quicke said. "In a very short period of time these sites can turn into a near monoculture of annual grass. It is very difficult and expensive to re-establish desirable species on these severely degraded sites. We recommend prioritizing invasive annual grass control on sites that still have viable populations of desirable perennial grasses, forbs and shrubs."

To learn more about how to protect land today and for future tomorrows with Esplanade herbicide, contact your Bayer sales representative or call 800-331-2867. Find more information about Esplanade at vm.bayer.us.

About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2018, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of 39.6 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.6 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.2 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.us.

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