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Ellis County adopts 2024 noxious‑weed eradication report and 2025 management plan
Summary
Noxious Weed Supervisor Gary Haase presented the county's 2024 eradication report and the 2025 management plan; commissioners approved both documents 3–0 and signed required forms for Kansas Department of Agriculture compliance.
Gary Haase, Ellis County Weed Control Supervisor, presented the county’s annual eradication report for 2024 and the Noxious Weed Management Plan for 2025 at the Feb. 18 meeting. The reports satisfy Kansas Department of Agriculture requirements for noxious weed programs.
Haase said county crews sprayed about 6,800 acres of county right of way and maintained 1,340 miles of roads and rights of way; the office also completed 517 acres of KDOT right‑of‑way spraying and about 42 acres for Hays and Ellis city work. The department sold herbicide to private landowners (528 tickets), disbursing 24,689 gallons for use on roughly 73,069 acres. Haase said staff performed three inspections for musk thistle and recorded increased attention to Canada thistle and phragmites in waterways.
Haase described other 2024 activities: 406 man‑hours on tree and brush removal (94 trailer loads), 569 man‑hours of roadside mowing, and a pesticide container recycling program that reclaimed 437 containers. For 2025, Haase listed goals including finishing a load‑out system for the cold storage building, stepped‑up Canada thistle and phragmites control, and pre‑emergent efforts for kochia and Palmer amaranth.
Commissioner Michael Burgett moved to approve the eradication report and 2025 management plan; Commissioner Nathan Leiker seconded. The commission voted 3–0 to approve the documents and signed the required materials for submission to the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
Why this matters: The approved reports document annual expenditures and control measures, and provide the county’s official plan and compliance record under state noxious‑weed law.
Ending: The commission approved the report and plan and thanked Haase for the work; Haase said he looks forward to implementing the 2025 priorities.
