By Joel van der Veen

ELBOW — There’s no magic bullet, and if they’re going to stop this problem from spreading further, they’ve got to step up their attack.

If the language used by directors of the Willner-Elbow community pastures last week seems aggressive, there’s a good reason for it.

Leafy spurge was the focus of a public tour of the pastures, held the afternoon of June 6.

Despite efforts to control the invasive spurge, the noxious weed has continually spread, now covering an estimated 12,000 acres of pasture land on the east side of Lake Diefenbaker.

“It’s an ongoing battle,” said pasture manager Ross Sigfusson, who led the tour on Monday.

The event was hosted by the Willner Elbow Grazing Corporation (WEG) and the South Saskatchewan River Agri Environmental Group Plan.

Around 40 people were in attendance for all or part of the event, riding quads across the pasture and stopping periodically at points of interest.

The group included pasture patrons, area ranchers, representatives from other pastures and farm organizations, government employees and officials, and members of the media.

The tour was intended to increase awareness of the spurge and its ongoing spread, and to get various parties committed to a co-ordinated approach to bringing the weed under control.

Guests also got an up-close look at a current measure being used to combat the spurge: intensive grazing by a herd of 1,600 sheep and goats.

For the full story, please see the June 13 edition of The Davidson Leader, or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.