Foam System Being Tested for Killing Weeds

EUGENE, Ore. – Hot foam is being used as an alternative to herbicides in a series of tests being run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Oregon. Noxious weeds are the targets of the new experimental agents, developed in New Zealand in 1983.

The BLM’s Eugene, Ore. district is in its second year of a three-year lease of the weed-killing system, called Waipuna. It is used successfully around the world to kill weeds and other invasive and unwanted vegetation.

Waipuna is reported to kill about 90 percent of falsebrome; the targeted weed in the Oregon experiment. Falsebrome is a foreign grass that has been spreading across the state with surprising speed.

The experimental weed killer uses nontoxic, biodegradable foam created by infusing hot water with a sugar extracted from corn and coconut. It is being touted as an environmentally friendly alternative to herbicide for about the same price.

Currently the Oregon BLM is testing the method on Himalayan blackberry, Japanese knotweed, puncturevine and Scotch broom.

Information from: Oregon Register-Gaurd