Testimony of Jeff Olson
Program Manager
Senate Bill 2206
March 6, 2003
11:00 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 2206. We testified in support of similar legislation, SB 2204, in the 2001 Legislative Session relating to defining the tolerance of restricted seeds.

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 federal and 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.

Reducing the tolerance on restricted weeds would help in trying to gain control of the weed infestations that exist in North Dakota. A particular problem is with Quack grass, which is a difficult perennial invader to control in crop, hay, and pastureland. This lower tolerance will prevent North Dakota from being the dumping ground for infested seed. The 25 seed per pound tolerance is similar to Minnesota's tolerance. This would also provide for a uniform standard between the states that are attainable by a seed grower.

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