Noxious Weed Control Program

Musk thistle flower Noxious weeds are one of the greatest threats to the 
Kansas environment because they displace native plant species, interfere with the production of agricultural crops, increase erosion, destroy wildlife habitat and decrease property values.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture administers the state Noxious Weed Law.  The State Weed Specialist and Noxious Weed Control Program provide technical assistance to individual landowners, state and federal agencies as well as other companies and organizations that manage land in our great state.




Kansas Noxious Weeds

There are 12 plant species designated as noxious weeds in Kansas.  Other species may be designated as county option weeds. Check with your County Weed Department to find out if any other species have been designated as noxious in your county.

Kansas Noxious Weed List

Category A Weeds
These weeds are generally not found in the state or are found limited in distribution throughout the state and shall be subject to exclusion from the state or active eradication wherever detected statewide, in order to protect neighboring lands and the state as a whole.

Category B Weeds
These weeds have discrete distributions throughout the state and shall be subject to control wherever populations have become established within the state and subject to active eradication wherever populations are not established.

Category C Weeds
These weeds are well-established within the state and known to exist in larger or more extensive populations in the state.  New populations shall be subject to control efforts directed at reducing or eliminating those populations and known and established populations of Category C noxious weeds shall be managed by any approved control method.

County Option Noxious Weeds
The Kansas Noxious Weed Act allows for counties to declare, with approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, species of plants to be noxious in their county (K.S.A. 2-1314).

Nominate a Species for Consideration as a Noxious Weed in Kansas
If you know of an exotic invasive plant that you feel should be listed as a noxious weed, you may request that species be considered for listing by the Noxious Weed Advisory Committee.

Noxious Weeds Survey Data

Kansas Noxious Weed Law and Regulations

The Noxious Weed Law was established to protect landowners from the encroachment of noxious weeds from neighboring lands.  Since it was enacted in 1937, it has been revised and improved upon several times, resulting in today's version.

Federal Noxious Weed Quarantine
The Kansas Noxious Weed Law and Regulations

 

KANSAS NOXIOUS AND INVASIVE WEED MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Kansas Department of Agriculture and the State Noxious Weed Advisory Committee, in cooperation with other state and federal agencies and a variety of agricultural, conservation, and natural resource organizations across the state, have cooperated to produce Kansas’ first statewide plan for the management and eradication of noxious and invasive weeds. 

This plan, and the accompanying action items, are intended to help the department improve its management of noxious weeds and to allow stakeholder to know what the department is doing and to help direct statewide weed management going forward.

Kansas Noxious and Invasive Weed Management Plan

Noxious Weed Advisory Committee

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  • Membership

  • Responsibilities

Controlling Noxious Weeds

The Kansas Noxious Weed Law requires that all people, which includes the private landowners, state, counties, townships, cities, and their agencies, boards and departments, any companies or corporations that own or manage land, control the spread of and eradicate any noxious weeds on any land the own or supervise, and to use the official methods approved and adopted by the secretary. These methods will be based on the most current available science and will include, if applicable, control and eradication methods from each of the Integrated Weed Management, including biological, chemical, cultural, and mechanical methods of control and eradication. 

Official Noxious Weed Control Programs

County Option Noxious Weeds

2021 County Noxious Weed Annual Reports and Management Plans

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Noxious and Invasive Weed Newsletters

Noxious and Invasive Weed Newsletters

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Publications

Noxious and Invasive Weed Resources

Contacts

Scott Marsh
Weeds and Seed Specialist
785-207-2118
scott.marsh@ks.gov