3075 Lane 51 1/2

DON'T ''CHEAT'' YOUR RECLAMATION EFFORT

Some states allow up to 2% cheatgrass in uncertified seed.

That means:

163,300 cheatgrass seeds in a 50-pound bag of seed!

Even Certified, blue-tagged seed in some states is allowed to have 0.5% cheatgrass or other annual weedy bromes. This means:

40,800 cheatgrass seeds per 50-pound bag of Certified, Blue- tagged seed!

Some seed has little or no cheatgrass; most seed has too much by our standards. As a buyer you have a right to insist upon a copy of the seed analysis. Look to see what weeds are present and in what quantities. Weed seeds may be expressed as number of seed per pound or number of seeds per so many grams, so you will need to use the following formula to find the number of weed seeds per pound:

Number of weed seeds per gram multiplied by 454 grams per pound = Number of seeds per pound.

Cheatgrass and other weedy annual bromes will rob your young perennial seedlings of vital moisture and nutrients. Cheatgrass is also one of nature's most flammable materials and responsible for the incredible fire cycle consuming southern Idaho.

Annual weedy species to avoid if possible:

Bromus carinatus, California or sweet brome

Bromus catharticus, Rescuegrass

Bromus secalinus, Cheat or chess

Bromus tectorum, Downy brome, downy chess, cheatgrass

Bromus commutatus, Hairy chess

Bromus japonicus, Japanese brome

Bromus mollis, Soft brome

Bromus racemosus

Bromus rigidus, Ripgut brome

Vulpia myuros or Festuca myuros, Rattail fescue

Wind River Seed makes a special effort to purchase the best seed available from growers who make the extra effort to walk their fields and attempt to rogue out annual weeds. Oftentimes, however, the only seed on the market contains a small percentage of weed seed.

Why aren't these annual weeds listed as noxious weeds by regulatory agencies? Simply because nobody can control them once they gets started on a range. Since the law does not protect you from cheatgrass, you must protect your own land.

WYOMING'S ONLY NATIVE SEED COMPANY