Noxious Weed Seed Free Forage and Mulch
As many of you know, weed free hay is a requirement when you travel on horse vacation to western states. This program began about 10 years ago and is now applicable in most of the western states for all public riding areas.
It is still possible to vacation at private facilities where weed free hay may or may not be required, so check with your destination before you leave on vacation. Whether or not they require weed free hay, it is a good practice to buy it anyway just to be safe. The local producers in MN are providing this hay as a service to you, as much as for their own business, since the quantities sold are not that great and the inspection process is expensive and time consuming for them. And the MN prices are about half of what the prices are out west! Patronize them for those two reasons alone. (Note that I am a biased reporter since I am one of the producers!)
Below is a list of Minnesota producers of weed free hay, so check the list and contact one of them for your hay needs. This list of producers is also available at the Horse and Mule Trails Website which has listings for all the mid-western states at: www.horseandmuletrails.com/weedfreehay.htm although their list is a little outdated.
If you are traveling to South Dakota
Check with the South Dakota Trail Riders Website at www.venturecomm.net/~ckshryock.com or Kelly at 605-539-1979 if you want to pick your hay up out there.
If you are traveling to Montana
Montana has added a new twist. If you bring your weed free hay into the state you must have an “Original Transit Certificate” issued by the state agency from the state in which the hay was produced! Apparently this is an attempt to get you to purchase your hay locally in Montana when you arrive there.
What this really means is that if you want to bring your hay with you, you will have to make arrangements with your hay provider much ahead of time before you pick up your hay. The seller has to fill in paperwork on the sale and submit it to the state agency and have them issue the Transit Certificate and return mail it to him for his signature and for him to hand over to you when you pick up the hay. You need to allow a minimum of one week for this time to get the certificate mailed out.
In Minnesota, the state agency is the MN Crop Improvement Assn (MCIA), and they have forms available for us MN producers to use. If your hay producer is not familiar with this procedure ask him to contact MCIA at 1-800-510-MCIA about the proper forms. Or give me a call, Russ Wright, at 507-775-2512 if you have other questions.
Noxious Weed Seed Free Forage and Mulch Directory
Members of the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association grew the products listed below. The information listed is current as of September 1, 2006.
There is a growing demand in North America for the use of certified noxious weed seed free forage and mulch as a preventative program to limit the spread of noxious weeds. This voluntary certification program is designed to assure that forage (hay, cubes and pellets) and mulch sold with proper certification identification meets minimum standards designed to limit the spread of noxious weeds. Buyers are provided assurance that forage and mulch certified through this program meets these minimum standards.
The Minnesota Crop Improvement Association has been designated under the Minnesota Noxious Weed Law as the official Noxious Weed Seed Free Forage and Mulch Certification Agency in Minnesota by the Commissioner of Agriculture in consultation with the Director of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.
Program standards comply with the Regional Weed Free Forage Certification Standards developed by the Regional Weed Free Forage Committee of the North American Weed Management Association. The Regional Weed Free Forage Committee has established minimum standards to allow uniform participation by states and provinces in the program. Forage and mulch certified under the MCIA certification program with proper certification markings attached will be eligible to be shipped into restricted areas in the United States and Canada where only forage and mulch certified under the Regional Forage Certification Standards can be used.
| County | Forage Content | Producer & Address | Phone |
| Benton | Big Bluestem | Nature's Acres 14088 Hwy 95 NE Foley, MN 56329 |
320-968-4222 |
| Cottonwood | Alfalfa/Timothy | Richard Weedman PO Box 2 Lamberton, MN 56152 |
507-752-7411 |
| Martin | Bromegrass | Paul Schlaphoff 993 St Hwy 4 Sherburn, MN 56171 |
507-764-2454 |
| Nicollet | Alfalfa | Richard Brown 51411 465th Ave Nicollet, MN 56074 |
507-947-3798 |
| Olmsted | Alfalfa | Dale A Fleming 10821 Co Rd 129 SE Eyota, MN 55934 |
507-545-0158 |
| Olmsted | Alfalfa/Brome | Charles H Passe 3300 60th Ave SW Rochester, MN 55902 |
507-281-1519 |
| Olmsted | Alfalfa | Russell Wright 5510 Co Rd 103 NW Byron, MN 55920 |
507-775-2512 |
| Swift | Alfalfa/ Orchardgrass |
James Gallagher 107 9th St S Box 36 Danvers, MN 56231 |
320-548-3253 |
| Washington | Native Grass Mixture | Gene Smallidge 10992 Pt. Douglas, Hastings, MN 55033 |
651-459-5600 |
| Wilkin | Mixture | Aaron Cook 1539 130th St S Wolverton, MN 56594 |
218-995-2003 |
| Wright | Alfalfa | Harlan Anderson 2379 Quimby Ave SE Cokato, MN 55321 |
320-286-5682 |
| Yellow Medicine | Alfalfa | Darrel & Lisa Olson 4298 170th Ave Cottonwood, MN 56229 |
507-423-5557 |
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| Black Hills | Rapid Feed & Seed 3640 S Hwy 79 Rapid City, SD |
605-348-0059 | |
| Black Hills | D & M Ag Supply 3782 E Hwy 44 Rapid City, SD |
605-393-2211 | |
| Black Hills | Hiway Hardware 108 Main St Hill City, SD |
605-574-2035 | |
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