Testimony of Jeff Olson
Program Manager
Senate Bill 2124
February 27, 2003
9:00 a.m.
House Agriculture Committee
Peace Garden Room

Chairman Nicholas and members of the committee, my name is Jeff Olson, Program Manager with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. I am here to provide testimony is support of SB 2124. We testified in support of this bill, SB 2204, in the 2001 Legislative Session for defining the tolerance of noxious weeds in seeds.

We agree that there should be a zero tolerance to Yellow Starthistle. The state of North Dakota allocates approximately $1.7 million dollars each biennium for weed control. This does not count the dollars spent at the local level. Because of this investment each year, we feel that eliminating the noxious weed seeds from commercial seeds would go a long way in trying to get control of the most problematic weeds in the state.

Thank you for consideration of this bill. I would be happy to answer any questions.