Scientists in Reno are searching for the newest weapon in the war on cheatgrass.

On a one-acre plot in Somersett, scientists laid down several herbicides Friday to try and kill cheatgrass without harming the native plants.

Cheatgrass is very invasive; it can take over areas that used to be sagebrush after a fire.

The experiments are being run by the Nevada Fire Safe Council and the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

Thanks to new technologies, herbicides might be a cheaper solution. “The herbicides that we have today are a lot more effective than they have been in the past. We’re using them at almost microscopic applications rates yet they do a great job at controlling things,” says weed specialist Earl Creech.

Some of the herbicides they’re testing are commonly used on ranches, but others are newly developed for specific crops like wheat.

If nothing else, they’d like to kill the cheatgrass and be able to seed something else in its place.

We should see the results this spring, but they’ll monitor the site for years to see which herbicides last longer.