Cash Crop Weeds

Cash Crop Weeds AG WORLD Ag World 11-6-33 Weeds make a good cash crop, according to California farmer Larry Kandarian, featured in a recent issue of Farm Forum Magazine. Kandarian sells weed seeds to herbicide companies and universities for use in research projects. Kandarian doublecrops some fast-growing weeds, such as shepherdspurse. Other seeds he commonly raises include Johnson-grass, pigweed, sicklepod, teaweed, quack-grass, cheeseweed, fiddlenect and barnyardgrass. Since most of the seeds are extremely small, the volume is measured in pounds instead of bushels. Shepherdspurse, for example, sells for $18 per pound. Kandarian is the only farmer in his area raising weeds for profit. When he first got the idea, he made his own contacts with several herbicide companies. Now he sells his seed to Valley Seed Service, a world-wide seed firm in Fresno, Calif., that markets the weed seed for him.

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