Noxious Weed Law

Weed Spraying

Spring Weed Spraying on Freeborn County roads will begin in May. Owners who wish spraying deleted from areas along their land should notify the County Engineer’s Office at 3300 Bridge Ave (CSAH 22 North of HyVee) as soon as possible. The owner will be given special lath to mark the ends of the area not being sprayed and also will be required to sign an agreement to provide satisfactory weed control on that area.

Philip B. Wacholz, Freeborn County Engineer / Director of Public Works

  1. No Spray Zone Agreement (PDF)

General Notice to Control or Eradicate Noxious Weeds

Notice is hereby given this 1st day of May, 2022, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 18.83, Subdivision 1 (2009), that all persons in Freeborn County, Minnesota, shall control or eradicate all noxious weeds on land they occupy or are required to maintain. Control or eradication may be accomplished by any lawful method, but the method(s) applied may need to be repeated in order to prevent the spread of viable noxious weed seeds and other propagating parts to other lands. Failure to comply with the general notice may mean that an individual notice, Minnesota Statutes, Section 18.83, Subdivision 2 (2013), will be issued. An individual notice may be appealed within two working days of receipt to the appeal committee in the county where the land is located. Failure to comply with an individual notice will mean that the inspector having jurisdiction may either hire the work done or seek a misdemeanor charge against the person(s) who failed to comply. If the work is hired done by the inspector, the cost can be placed as a tax upon the land and collected as other real estate taxes are collected. You may obtain a list of the plants that are designated as noxious weeds and the members of the appeal committee from your County Agricultural Inspector or County-Designated Employee. You can also obtain this information from your Local Weed inspectors. Local Weed Inspectors include the township supervisors, city mayors or their appointed assistants. More information regarding the statewide listed noxious weeds, the MN Noxious Weed Law and a list of County Agricultural Inspectors and County Designated Employees can be obtained from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Web Site by visiting Weed Control

David Rasmussen, Assistant County Agricultural Inspector, 3300 Bridge Avenue, Albert Lea, MN 56007 507.377.5188

Due to staffing limitations and fiscal constraints, Freeborn County's role as County Agricultural Inspector will be to receive complaints, verify the presence of noxious weeds and provide notice to the land owner or responsible party for voluntary compliance with Minnesota's Noxious Weed Law

Additional Information

LEARN MORE ABOUT MINNESOTA NOXIOUS WEEDS

  1. 2017 Minnesota Noxious Weed Law and Lists (PDF)
  2. 2022 MN Noxious Weed List Fact Sheet
  3. Minnesota Statutes 2020 (PDF)
  4. MnDOT - Noxious Weeds (PDF)