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By Daphne McCullough
Reinforcements in Rappahannock’s war against thistles are on the way. County Extension agent Rap Owings plans to travel across the mountain to Warren County and pick up armies of Rhinocyllus conicus, a thistle weevil that feeds only on the plant pest, for release here.
Suburbanites driving through rural areas oooh and aaah over the delicate purple flowers that have sprung up in fields and along road sides. Farmers see the tall prickly stalks and shudder.
Valuable pasture is lost whenever thistles occur. According to VPI extension specialists, one thistle plant to 16 square feet reduces pasture yields an average of 23 percent or 470 pounds of dry forage per acre. Thistles now inhabit at least 40 Western Virginia Counties and are continuing to spread. A problem for years in neighboring Warren County, thistles are becoming a significant threat to pastures and hay fields in Rappahannock.
Owings reported that he’d previously introduced weevils at five different locations around the county. “They’ve established themselves in two spots definitely,” he added.
Thistles are not native to North America but were brought from Europe in the latter part of the eighteenth century. With no natural predators, the population increased rapidly.
Standard control is with spray application of 2, 4-D, a contact herbicide. However, Owings noted that its effectiveness is limited if the 2,
73.8%