If there’s one message Dan Forgey hopes to convey to South Dakota farmers and ranchers, it is the fact that this aggressive weed could take up residence in their fields in 2020 if they don’t take the threat seriously.

“Producers can’t brush this off,” says Forgey, farm manager of Cronin Farms, in Gettysburg and South Dakota Soil Health Coalition (SDSHC) board member.

Forgey speaks from experience. In 2018, the weed was discovered on Cronin Farms, in an 80-acre field of white wonder foxtail millet. The Palmer amaranth found its way into the field, stowed away in the millet seed.

Its discovery voided the $42,500 seed contract. Forgey and his employer opted to hay the millet and burn the bales at a cost of $3,500. “It’s our belief on this farm, that we won’t give someone else our problem,” Forgey explains…. View full article