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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Agricultural Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #104642
Title: TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER EFFORTS FOR TEAM LEAFY SPURGE

Author
item MERRITT, STEVE - MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Prosser, Chadley
item Anderson, Gerald
item Spencer, Neal

Submitted to: Technology Transfer and Biological Control: From Research to Practice
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: Merritt, S., C.W. Prosser, G.L. Anderson and N.R. Spencer. 1999. Technology transfer efforts for TEAM Leafy Spurge. In Proceedings: Technology Transfer Society 23rd Annual Meeting. July 15-17, 1999. St. Petersburg, FL.

Interpretive Summary: TEAM Leafy Spurge is a five-year research and demonstration program funded by USDA-ARS and managed cooperatively with USDA-APHIS. Its ultimate goal is transferring effective, affordable and ecologically based Integrated Pest Management strategies for controlling leafy spurge to ranchers, landowners, land managers across a wide, sparsely populated region that is geographically and demographically unique. Leafy spurge is a fast- spreading exotic invasive weed that reduces range production potential and the economic returns associated with livestock production. The weed has proven quite difficult to control since the early 1900s, it has doubled its area of infestation every 10 years, and traditional methods of control (i.e., herbicides) have proven inadequate to prevent its spread and the resultant economic losses. These losses have been estimated at more than $150 million a year in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming alone. The focus of TEAM Leafy Spurge's efforts is to develop partnerships across the northern Great Plains; to centralize, plan and coordinate the transfer of technologies researched and developed by TEAM members; to identify then target various, and widely diverse, audiences; and the various plans and tools utilized to transfer said technologies. Special emphasis will be given to TEAM Leafy Spurge's efforts to reach a variety of audiences, ranging from local ranchers and landowners to local and state decision makers, national decision makers, and researchers at the state, national, and international levels. Clearly, transferring new, proven technologies and influencing long-standing perceptions will be instrumental to helping solve this problem.

Technical Abstract: TEAM Leafy Spurge is a five-year research and demonstration program funded by USDA-ARS and managed cooperatively with USDA-APHIS. Its ultimate goal is transferring effective, affordable and ecologically based Integrated Pest Management strategies for controlling leafy spurge to ranchers, landowners, land managers across a wide, sparsely populated region that is geographically and demographically unique. Leafy spurge is a fast- spreading exotic invasive weed that reduces range production potential and the economic returns associated with livestock production. The weed has proven quite difficult to control since the early 1900s, it has doubled its area of infestation every 10 years, and traditional methods of control (i.e., herbicides) have proven inadequate to prevent its spread and the resultant economic losses. These losses have been estimated at more than $150 million a year in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming alone. The focus of TEAM Leafy Spurge's efforts is to develop partnerships across the northern Great Plains; to centralize, plan and coordinate the transfer of technologies researched and developed by TEAM members; to identify then target various, and widely diverse, audiences; and the various plans and tools utilized to transfer said technologies. Special emphasis will be given to TEAM Leafy Spurge's efforts to reach a variety of audiences, ranging from local ranchers and landowners to local and state decision makers, national decision makers, and researchers at the state, national, and international levels. Clearly, transferring new, proven technologies and influencing long-standing perceptions will be instrumental to helping solve this problem.