Mizzou professor looks to tackle challenge of why weeds like crossings

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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University of Missouri

A plant scientist at the University of Missouri, Reid Smeda, has been working for more than a decade to help make railroad crossings safer through vegetation management with herbicides.

 

According to a story by Randy Mertens at the university, Smeda says that railroad crossings are the most ideal place for weeds to grow and explains his research efforts.

Mertens wrote that seeds from all over the country can be deposited at crossings from trains that pass through. Crossings also receive maximum sunlight, as trees have been cleared up to 300 feet from the road and up to 50 feet from the center of the track, he said.

He mentions that fertilizer transported by trains can be dropped from passing railcars, inadvertently providing nutrients to the weeds and as crossings lack a canopy of crops that occur in fields, weeds have no other plants to compete with. He attributes weeds sprouting up to an idea place for weed seeds to grow, which is a combination of stones and soil.

Smeda’s recent research revolves around controlling pesky herbicide-resident weeds, such as water hemp. In Meterns’ story, Smeda says that today, the species is becoming more resistant in farming due to herbicide overuse.

Smeda recommends railroads move away from spraying the same herbicides year after year and, instead, change the chemistry every third year, which will slow the selection of resistant weeds or using three-, four- and five-way herbicide mixes.

He has established a test plot in the middle of the Neff Rail Yard, northeast of downtown Kansas City, Mo., and in northeast Kansas at the 18th Street Rail Yard.

Smeda has constructed a small, simulated railroad crossing that serves as a controlled environment for his tests. Here, he can watch weeds through their lifecycle and compare the results of different weed-killing and mowing strategies over a long time.

 

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