Palmer amaranth is giving validity to the curmudgeon's view that no good deed goes unpunished. Researchers at the University of Missouri are now finding birdseed is often packed with pigweed and many other weed seeds.

 

The news comes after Palmer amaranth, an aggressive pigweed species that is a scourge in southern states, was found popping up in pollinator plots across the Midwest last year. Missouri scientists have also pointed to waterfowl contributing to the continued spread of the weed as the birds eat and subsequently poop the undigested and still viable pigweed seeds far away from the point of initial consumption.

 

Until now, physical movement by way of machinery or contaminated livestock feed or bedding has largely been blamed for Palmer making its way northward. But these new avenues of entry give growers additional reasons to keep an eye open for the opportunistic invader, says University of Missouri weed scientist Kevin Bradley.

 

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