(Radio Iowa) – From green foxtail to goosegrass, a contest at the Iowa State Fair next month will test Iowans’ knowledge of weeds. There’ll be three divisions, for future agronomists under 19, a general division, and one for professionals. They’ll need to correctly name between 20 and 35 common Iowa weeds. Meaghan Anderson, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension, says contestants will have to be able to identify real weed samples, potted on a tabletop display. “The primary goal is just to raise awareness of some species that people may see all the time but don’t know the names of,” Anderson says. “We also like to provide some fun facts so people know a little bit more about the species that are surrounding us in our environment.”

The extension has online weed guides so anyone can learn how to distinguish crabgrass from quackgrass from witchgrass. “A lot of the species are really common ones like velvetleaf, common lambsquarters or dandelions,” Anderson says, “and we accept any common name that we are aware of, so if you call it creeping Charlie, but I call it ground ivy, we’re still going to give you the points for it on the test.” Perhaps you already know bull thistle, bush honeysuckle and burcucumber, but Iowa is home to many dozens of invasive plants, like the Japanese knotweed.  “We encourage you to study a little bit ahead of time, identify some of those common weeds, focus on things that you may see in your yard or in your neighborhood, and you’re going to be pretty good on identifying at least a handful of them,” Anderson says. “If you’re not quite ready to compete, we do put them in the Ag Building at the State Fair and they will stay in there for the duration of the fair and they will have their labels on them.”

There are cash prizes for the top finishers in each division, but Anderson says most contestants aren’t in it for the money.  “I think the bragging rights is probably the most important thing, right? A good family competition is important, so the kids and the parents can compete against each other and see who wins to get the most correct,” Anderson says. “We do have State Fair ribbons, so the top five in each of our divisions, the blue ribbons are usually the nice, big blue ribbons, very fancy.”

The contest will start at 9 AM on Friday, August 8th in front of the John Deere Agriculture Building.

https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/weed-identification-fact-sheets