Drone Sprays Noxious Weeds

By GREG SCELLIN
Signal Editor

The Fillmore County Noxious Weed Department has recently enlisted the most modern in technology to continue with its battle against Phragmites (Common Reed) spreading in Fillmore County. Phragmites is a non-native plant found throughout Nebraska mainly in stream and river channels, drainage ditches and shores of lakes and ponds.
A dense stand of phragmites out-competes native plant communities and alters the conveyance of water by channelizing the river channels creating vegetated sandbars. Natural river flows are restricted, thus making the areas more susceptible to flooding during high water events. Fillmore County Noxious Weed Superintendent Todd Boller enlisted the help of Wesley Prosser with Rantizo last week to have his drone spray phragmites in the extreme southeast part of Fillmore County, north of the Lonestar Recreation area.
An area of concern targeted was south of State Highway 41 near County Road 24, at the north end of Lonestar. Boller said, phragmites needs to be sprayed at this time of the year and he got Prosser and his drone to come here after working in Clay and Nuckolls counties.
“It has to be applied before the first frost,” Boller said. “I also wanted to work around harvest with the farmers in the field, as much as I could.”
“The weeds are getting worse with the changes in weather patterns and any tool we can find to control them, we will sure look into,” Boller said.
Boller’s office number is 402-366-1921. His office is located in the Fillmore County main shop area in Geneva. He also can be contacted by email at todd.boller@fillmore.nacone.org