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Palmer amaranth detected in Minnesota

Palmer amaranth has been detected in Minnesota for the first time.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is urging farmers to check fields for the aggressive weed after a plant in a native seed planting plot on a Yellow Medicine County farm was confirmed to be palmer amaranth.

Bruce Potter, an extension integrated pest management specialist with the University of Minnesota, says palmer has already infested neighboring states.

“We’ve kind of been expecting it to show up (in Minnesota) for quite awhile.  It first became a problem in the southern states and has been in Iowa, Wisconsin and South Dakota for awhile.”

He tells Brownfield palmer amaranth is similar to water hemp, except that it can get much bigger.

“It’s going to be more competitive, those sorts of things.  Yet it has the same issues as water hemp as far as being resistant to a lot of the herbicide programs out there.  It’s just a difficult-to-manage weed that produces a lot of seed.”

The Minnesota Department of Ag is asking landowners to scout fields for palmer amaranth before harvest and report any suspected infestations.