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The seasoned farmer likely doesn鈥檛 come across too many things that surprise them, yet it does happen on occasion.

I can recall that one summer when reports of an armadillo sighting were stirring through our little part of the country in central Minnesota. It was as if Bigfoot himself had passed through on his way to the deep north woods. The excitement ended abruptly one morning when the little armadillo showed up as roadkill not far from the farm. Considering their range is about as far as Kansas, rumors ran wild around the kitchen table about how it got here or who brought it here.

More recently, we鈥檝e had traveling moose or elk pass through that have caused a social media sensation. While that鈥檚 quite exciting, it鈥檚 more likely that you鈥檒l find surprises growing in your fields that cause frustration. The spread of weeds such as are enough to keep Extension agents and farmers on edge throughout the growing season.

I鈥檝e been around farming and gardening long enough that you鈥檇 think I鈥檇 pay more attention to the types of weeds that infiltrate the growing areas. Instead, I typically just pull whatever is not the intended plant and hope it doesn鈥檛 come back.

Michael Johnson / Agweek

A website I recently looked into called 鈥� 鈥� invites people like you and me to take a step of action. Sure, it鈥檚 important to remove the pest in most circumstances, but if you don鈥檛 know what pest is growing, munching or infecting your plants, maybe it鈥檚 time to do some homework and find out once and for all. This effort is a community science-based approach by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to track the movement of some of these pests.

Report a Pest involves some important steps:

• Take pictures of the pest or disease.
• Take notes of the exact location of the pest. Address GPS coordinates as well as land descriptions. If it鈥檚 an insect, take pictures and notes about the plant where the insect was found. Note the size and colors.
• Capture the insect if possible or take a sample of the plant. You鈥檒l want to take precautions here because these are insects or plants that you are unfamiliar with. You could get stung or have allergic reactions or if the plant is called Audrey, far worse things could be in store.
• Report findings to Report a Pest using an , send photos and notes by email ( reportapest@state.mn.us ), use the mobile app or call 1-888-545-6684 with a detailed message.

All this can be done within minutes of finding the pest.

Some of these efforts have helped detect plant species on the noxious weed list, including Palmer amaranth, tree of heaven, and giant hogweed.

Early detection is essential to keeping noxious weeds out of the region. You know your fields better than anyone and state agencies can only cover so much ground. You can make a difference today toward less troubles in the future for you and your neighbors.