Weed Control

• Under the Alberta Weed Control Act, an inspector may enter or inspect land during reasonable hours, without notice. Inspectors will not enter any buildings on land they inspect.
• County Weed Inspectors may park vehicles in field approaches but will never drive onto your land.
• Weed Inspectors inspect the entirety of the County, which includes both public and private lands.
• Weed Inspectors follow strict biosecurity protocols to prevent disease spread. Boot covers are worn while inspecting and any tools that may come into contact with soil are disinfected with a bleach solution, as per the guidelines within the Alberta Clubroot Management Plan.
• Agricultural Services divides the County into 'zones' and each Weed Inspector is assigned a zone that they are responsible for inspecting within.
• Weed Inspectors don't just look for invasive plants, they also do inspections for grasshoppers, set up traps to collect bertha armyworm moths, and participate in provincial crop disease surveys. 

• These are the responsibility of Saddle Hills County. We have a roadside spraying program to help keep our rights-of-way clear of weeds.

• The landowner is ultimately responsible for any weeds found on their property, even if the land is leased to tenants.

• Highways and their rights-of-way are the responsibility of Alberta Transportation.

• Industry or oilfield leases and sites are the responsibility of the company currently operating that site.

• Noxious (ie. Scentless Chamomile, Yellow Toadflax) - These plants must be controlled. Any plants found must be prevented from establishing or spreading further.
• Prohibited Noxious (ie. Orange Hawkweed) - These plants must be destroyed. Any plants found must be completely eradicated.

Should you wish to have the private fenceline adjacent to your property sprayed, as part of the County's Roadside Spraying Program, you will need to complete a Fenceline Spraying Agreement. 

Eligible registrants for the program are Saddle Hills County residents, grazing lease holders, and registered landowners. 

By signing the agreement, Agricultural Services will apply herbicide along the perimeter of the property, within the fenceline adjacent to a developed right-of-way. This allows the County to spray up to two metres onto private land and control noxious and prohibited noxious weeds and/or brush less than 2 metres in height.

Heribicide application will be avoided within 30 horizontal metres of domestic use dugouts, shelterbelts, residences, or common bodies of water, and applied from the roadside unless the terrain only allows access from inside the property line.

Fenceline Spraying Agreements remain in effect for the year it is signed or until cancelled by the landowner or the County.

If you do not want the County to conduct the Roadside Spraying Program on the road allowance that is adjacent to your property, you will need to complete a Do Not Spray Agreement. 

Once the agreement is signed, the landowner becomes responsible for maintaining weed control on the portion of roadside between their property boundary and the centre line of the roadway. It is the owners responsibility to keep the area free of noxious and/or restricted weeds and brush.

Maintenance Inspections will periodically be carried out by the Agricultural Services Department on this right-of-way, to ensure that proper weed control is being undertaken. Should brush, noxious and/or restricted weeds be present in this area and are determined to be at an unacceptable level, Saddle Hills County will notify the landowner and define a time period within which the issues should be rectified. Failure to comply to an acceptable standard, as deemed by the Agricultural Services Department, may result in cancellation of the agreement and inability to participate in the program for a period of two years. 

In this instance, the County may take whatever steps it deems appropriate to control the weeds and vegetation, including herbicide application.