The UC Hopland Research & Extension Center certainly must be one of the few large property ownerships in Mendocino County that is relatively free of Yellow Star Thistle. This noxious weed species is the worst noxious weed pest in California if one looks at the annual biomass production.
HREC has been almost free of this pest for decades due to persistent and diligent control of this species .... however there are still problem spots, especially along the borders of the Center. If you have followed the past BLOG posts, you might recall that we placed a special effort on applying herbicide via helicopter to some of these remote "problem spot" locations. However, on-the-ground follow-through treatments are necessary in order to gain 100% control in these locations.
Here you see Steven Poor, HREC's Principal Agricultural Technician, applying Milestone herbicide to one of these problematic locations in an area that has not been grazed by livestock in over 50 years.
