Photo: Potato fields in November, near Driggs, Idaho. © 2017 Delena Norris-Tull
Road Logs for Idaho
These notes were taken while driving between Montana and Texas.
Summarized and prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita, University of Montana Western.
(This is part of the trip north, and follows the October 2017 Wyoming Road Log.)
November 2, 2017
State Highway 33 - Driggs to Rexburg
Huge areas of monoculture farming. Some crops use conservation tillage (the stubble is showing), but others (potatoes) do not – those areas are fully tilled after the harvest, leaving huge areas of highly erodible exposed soil.
State Highway 33 – Rexburg to I-15
Large area of lava fields with extensive sagebrush habitat, and various grasses.
I-15 north to Dubois, Idaho
The right-of-way between the divided highway sections has been mowed. The roadside has also been mowed but only a narrow section parallel to the roadway.
Extensive sagebrush habitat with lots of grasses, Russian thistle, and other weeds.
Malaleuca Corporation – Ranch near Dubois, Idaho – visited Nov. 2, 2017
This is a sagebrush habitat, with large areas of volcanic lava
Interview with ranch cowboy with whom I visited areas of the cattle ranch:
Links to additional Road Logs:
Road Logs for Idaho
These notes were taken while driving between Montana and Texas.
Summarized and prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita, University of Montana Western.
(This is part of the trip north, and follows the October 2017 Wyoming Road Log.)
November 2, 2017
State Highway 33 - Driggs to Rexburg
Huge areas of monoculture farming. Some crops use conservation tillage (the stubble is showing), but others (potatoes) do not – those areas are fully tilled after the harvest, leaving huge areas of highly erodible exposed soil.
State Highway 33 – Rexburg to I-15
Large area of lava fields with extensive sagebrush habitat, and various grasses.
I-15 north to Dubois, Idaho
The right-of-way between the divided highway sections has been mowed. The roadside has also been mowed but only a narrow section parallel to the roadway.
Extensive sagebrush habitat with lots of grasses, Russian thistle, and other weeds.
Malaleuca Corporation – Ranch near Dubois, Idaho – visited Nov. 2, 2017
This is a sagebrush habitat, with large areas of volcanic lava
Interview with ranch cowboy with whom I visited areas of the cattle ranch:
- Leafy spurge comes in when the irrigation water fills the ditches in the summer (we saw leafy spurge plants along the edges of the now-dry irrigation ditches, still green on November 3.)
- Cattle forage on crested wheat (abundant) when it is younger. By late fall, it is no longer particularly useful as forage.
- There is a short native grass (abundant) that the cattle do well on.
- They do not yet have a major problem with cheatgrass, but it is appearing, particularly along roadsides
- There are large stands of kochia. In the fall it appears rusty red in color. Horses can eat the kochia.
- There are occasional large stands of Russian thistle. It appears nearly black in color in the fall.
- The cowboy has heard that sheep can eat larkspur and he is encouraging the ranch manager to try this approach to reduce the amount of larkspur
- Sheep can also eat leafy spurge
- I told them that there are some programs in Montana to train cattle to eat knapweed
Links to additional Road Logs: