News – Sheridan Media
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Leafy spurge, a leafy scourge to ranchers and farmers in Wyoming and many other western states, was the topic of a program given by the Sheridan County Weed and Pest in Clearmont on Wednesday, May 6.
Walker Billings, District Supervisor and Assistant Supervisors, Brian Songer, and Jane Sylvestre, presented a slide show and program on the programs that SCWP offer to help to control noxious weeds.
SCWP is funded by property taxes, which allows them to offer some of their weed and pest control programs at no cost or at a cost share to the landowners.
Billings started the program talking about what the SCWP offers, and as well as the chemicals they use to control various weeds.
They offer free consultations to help landowners and help them to make a plan to control noxious weeds. They also have a mosquito control program and spray a bio-agent to kill mosquito larva. They also have a variety of rental equipment for those wishing to control weeds. ‘It’s all commercial grade, high quality equipment.”
He talked about the different chemicals they offer, and how important it is to make sure the equipment is calibrated properly to achieve the desired results.
Jane Slyvestre talked about how leafy spurge grows and why is so hard to control.
She added it is one of the first weeds to emerge in the spring, coming up from the roots, and the seeds germinate in May. They can grow up to three feet tall, and crowd out desirable plants.
Slyvestre talked about test plots they are doing to allow them to see what was working to control the weed. Billings talked about different chemical controls that are available, and how well they work. He added that timing and application of the chemical is important to obtain the best control.
She also mentioned that the applicator has to take into account where they are putting out the chemical, not next to beneficial plants or the water source to keep from killing desirable plants as well.
“Never spray into running irrigation water. You don’t want to kill the neighbor’s alfalfa field.”
Slyvestre said another thing about leafy spurge is that it has a milky white sap in the stem that is toxic and unpalatable to cattle and horses. However, sheep and goats will eat it and they seem to prefer it over some other plants, making them one form of bio-control for leafy spurge.
When it came to bio-control, Brian Songer talked bugs such as the spurge beetles, which has been fairly successful in controlling the weed. He had a slide with several different insects that eat on leafy spurge.
One of the pictures on the slide was of two leafy spurge beetles, the black and the brown. He said the bugs have to monitored, and moved to another patch when they eat themselves out of house and home in one spurge patch.
He gave a demonstration on how to use a butterfly net to collect the bugs, and then pour them into a funnel and a bucket to gather them to move to another location. He said that herbicides will not hurt the beetles, but they have to have healthy spurge to eat.
“Beetles are a great program,” he added.
Jane then talked about goat grazing for spurge, goats become addicted to spurge, and can be an effective way to control the weed.
A good crowd of area people attended the meeting, which was held in the Clearmont Fire Hall.
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Last modified: May 9, 2026