The Capital Press ag journal published the following story in 2013 on 
the benefits of russian knapweed as cattle feed. Yet it is still listed 
as a class b noxious weed. My bees work it and my cows eat it after it 
has dried down yet my local noxious weed inspector harasses me about it 
every year. At what point does it start to be a crop.

http://www.capitalpress.com/content/mp-russian-knapweed-062513

In my county the weed inspectors are not hired on until many of their 
target species are in full bloom at which point the then begin thier 
spray campaign  on bloom with lots of bee activity. I feel as though 
they are an outdated tax burden. As a hay grower I do not leave my weed 
management to the hopes that the weed board will control the weeds 
before they contaminate my hay. I choose and implement a weed control 
system for my fields. Prior to the highly effective systems that we have 
available to us as growers the weed board may have been effective. It 
seems to me now an outdated bureaucracy concerned only with its own 
survival.

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