kenny
01-31-2007, 12:40 PM
Legislature considers new standards for birdseed
January 29, 2007
That wild birdseed you buy may be a treat for the birds, but some of it may contain seeds of noxious or invasive weeds that are bad for crops and natural habitats.
So the state Department of Agriculture is asking the Legislature to crack down on bad birdseed.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bill that gives the Agriculture Department the authority to test and set content standards for wild birdseed mixes.
Studies show invasive weeds are sneaking into Oregon masked as innocuous birdseed, officials say. For example, Oregon State University researchers found that a batch of commercial birdseed purchased at a Corvallis grocery store included 14 weed species.
Cleaning up under and around a feeder won’t solve the problem because bad seed can also travel by air.
“Not all the seed that goes into the beak is digested. Some of those seeds, including weed seeds, are hard to digest and pass right through,” says Dan Hilburn, plant division administrator at the Agriculture Department.
Representatives from the Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon Feed and Grain Association appeared at a hearing last week in support of the bill.
Bob Sallinger, urban conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland, says he hasn’t studied the measure in depth but has no problem with the idea.
“We’re working very hard in this state and spending a fortune to address the impact of invasive plants,” he told The Oregonian.
January 29, 2007
That wild birdseed you buy may be a treat for the birds, but some of it may contain seeds of noxious or invasive weeds that are bad for crops and natural habitats.
So the state Department of Agriculture is asking the Legislature to crack down on bad birdseed.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bill that gives the Agriculture Department the authority to test and set content standards for wild birdseed mixes.
Studies show invasive weeds are sneaking into Oregon masked as innocuous birdseed, officials say. For example, Oregon State University researchers found that a batch of commercial birdseed purchased at a Corvallis grocery store included 14 weed species.
Cleaning up under and around a feeder won’t solve the problem because bad seed can also travel by air.
“Not all the seed that goes into the beak is digested. Some of those seeds, including weed seeds, are hard to digest and pass right through,” says Dan Hilburn, plant division administrator at the Agriculture Department.
Representatives from the Oregon Farm Bureau and Oregon Feed and Grain Association appeared at a hearing last week in support of the bill.
Bob Sallinger, urban conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland, says he hasn’t studied the measure in depth but has no problem with the idea.
“We’re working very hard in this state and spending a fortune to address the impact of invasive plants,” he told The Oregonian.