Contact the Montana Department of Agriculture, your County Weed District, or County Extension agent. An NWSFF agent will provide the producer with the annual application and set up a field inspection. All certification inspections must be done prior to cutting, not after it is windrowed or baled. Pellet and grain certification is done through a plant inspection by the Montana Department of Agriculture.
For baled products, the inspector/NWSFF agent should be contacted about 2 weeks before a producer anticipates he will cut. For hay, it must be harvested within 7 days of the inspection, straw has a 14 day window from field inspection to harvest. This is driven by the rapid seed set of some noxious weed species.
A field inspection entails an extensive ‘walk-through’ by the NWSFF agent. If the agent finds the field and the stack yard free of noxious weeds, the agent will complete the certification process, and make arrangements for appropriate NWSFF markers (twine, tags and transportation certificates). Occasionally, a portion of the field will be excluded from the certification process. Also, the agent can turn a field down for poor husbandry practices, excessive amounts of poison plants or other undesirable species even if no noxious weeds are present.
There is an inspection fee of $2.50 per acre, with a $25.00 minimum. It is best to discuss any potential problem areas with the agent before the field inspection (ex: “I flagged out about 3 acres in the NW corner that has a little Oxeye daisy in it.” ) that may need exclusion from the certification to reduce the cost of the inspection.