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Barberry Eradication Program, 1918–1980

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A worker pours salt on a barberry bush in Minnesota, ca. 1925. Applying salt to kill a bush’s roots was the main method of destroying them before the widespread use of herbicides in the 1950s.

A worker pours salt on a barberry bush in Minnesota, ca. 1925. Applying salt to kill a bush’s roots was the main method of destroying them before the widespread use of herbicides in the 1950s.

Begun in 1918 and active until the late 1970s, the Barberry Eradication Program was an unprecedented cooperative effort between the US Department of Agriculture and twelve US states to remove the invasive common barberry bush from major areas of wheat production in the United States. The common barberry bush was a problem because it is a secondary host for the fungus that causes stem-rust disease, the most devastating disease of wheat. Minnesota played the central role in the establishment and operations of the eradication program.

The common barberry is an introduced plant species that was once grown as a popular ornamental bush throughout the northern half of the US. It was a problem because of its association with stem rust disease, the most serious threat to wheat. Stem rust disease is caused by a microscopic fungus that lives part of its life on the barberry bush before infecting wheat.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, stem rust outbreaks were common in the north-central US. This was especially problematic for Minnesota, where large-scale wheat farming in the western part of the state had led to the development of the world’s leading flour milling industry, in Minneapolis. The city’s flour mills depended on a consistent supply of wheat that was increasingly threatened by stem rust disease.

A huge stem rust epidemic in 1916 and unprecedented wheat losses brought calls for action. Within a year, the United States had entered World War I, and with the 1916 wheat losses so striking, concerns arose over possible food shortages during wartime. This “war emergency” atmosphere drove efforts to protect American food production, with wheat a top priority.

Aware of the barberry’s connection to these devastating wheat losses, proponents of eradication successfully advocated for the total removal of the bush via compulsory laws throughout the northern wheat-growing region of the US. Elvin Charles Stakman, the world’s leading authority on stem rust disease and a professor at the University of Minnesota, played the leading role in pushing for barberry eradication.

The Barberry Eradication Program officially began in Minnesota on March 19, 1918, with the passage of Legislative Order No. 28, which condemned the bush and called for its destruction. The state eradication headquarters was located at the University of Minnesota Farm in St. Paul. Wartime emotions ran high, and eradication authorities stressed the patriotic duty of all citizens to help locate and destroy barberry. They sent out informational circulars, posters, and barberry specimens to public institutions, county agricultural agents, local associations, and clubs as well as newspapers. Even school children were seen as vital assets in the campaign. Instructional materials went out to all schools and local scout troops. This novel public campaign originated in Minnesota before spreading out to the other participating states.

Although the public paid an important role in the eradication effort over the first couple of decades, over time, paid field crews took over the job of locating and removing bushes. This was especially the case during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. With so many people out of work, large-scale government work relief programs provided employment opportunities. The Barberry Eradication Program took advantage of this opportunity and hired large crews. Not surprisingly, with the expanded effort, this was the period of time when most barberry bushes were located and destroyed.

In 1979, the United States Department of Agriculture ended the cooperative Barberry Eradication Program in Minnesota. By that date, more than one million barberry bushes had been destroyed on over 9,000 properties from eighty-seven counties in the state. Perhaps the largest effort ever to remove an introduced plant species, the Barberry Eradication Program had helped reduce stem rust of wheat to a minor problem in the United States.

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Campbell, C. Lee, and David L. Long. “The Campaign to Eradicate the Common Barberry in the United States The Campaign to Eradicate the Common Barberry in the United States.” In Stem Rust of Wheat: From Ancient Enemy to Modern Foe, Paul D. Peterson, ed., 16–50. St. Paul: APS Press, 2001.

Danbom, David B. “Flour Power: The Significance of Flour Milling at the Falls.” Minnesota History 58, nos. 5 & 6 (Spring/Summer 2003): 270–285.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/58/v58i05-06p270-285.pdf

Peterson, Paul D. “The Barberry Eradication Program in Minnesota for Stem Rust Control: A Case Study.” Annual Review of Phytopathology 56 (2018): 203–223.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-080417-050133

——— . “`The Barberry or Bread’: The Public Campaign to Eradicate Common Barberry in the United States in the Early 20th Century.” American Phytopathology Society, 2013. https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/apsnetfeatures/Pages/Barberry.aspx

Related Images

A worker pours salt on a barberry bush in Minnesota, ca. 1925. Applying salt to kill a bush’s roots was the main method of destroying them before the widespread use of herbicides in the 1950s.
A worker pours salt on a barberry bush in Minnesota, ca. 1925. Applying salt to kill a bush’s roots was the main method of destroying them before the widespread use of herbicides in the 1950s.
Planted barberry bushes displayed as ornamentals around a home in Minnesota, ca. 1918.
Planted barberry bushes displayed as ornamentals around a home in Minnesota, ca. 1918.
Diagram showing the different stages of black stem-rust disease—the kind that attacks the barberry bush. Date unknown.
Diagram showing the different stages of black stem-rust disease—the kind that attacks the barberry bush. Date unknown.
Publicity poster to promote destruction of barberry bushes—an example of public education about barberry eradication. Date unknown.
Publicity poster to promote destruction of barberry bushes—an example of public education about barberry eradication. Date unknown.
Informational circular to promote destruction of barberry bushes, ca. 1920s.
Informational circular to promote destruction of barberry bushes, ca. 1920s.
A wheat rust exhibit at a county fair in Minnesota in 1922—an example of public education about barberry eradication.
A wheat rust exhibit at a county fair in Minnesota in 1922—an example of public education about barberry eradication.
Advertisement for a radio broadcast on WCCO hosted by E. C. Stakman in 1925—an example of public education about barberry eradication.
Advertisement for a radio broadcast on WCCO hosted by E. C. Stakman in 1925—an example of public education about barberry eradication.
School children in Dakota County, Minnesota, ca. 1930s, learning about barberry eradication
School children in Dakota County, Minnesota, ca. 1930s, learning about barberry eradication
Barberry eradication crew, ca. 1930s.The Barberry Eradication Program took advantage of government work relief programs during the era of the Great Depression.
Barberry eradication crew, ca. 1930s.The Barberry Eradication Program took advantage of government work relief programs during the era of the Great Depression.

Turning Point

In 1918, Minnesota leads efforts to establish the federal–state barberry eradication campaign to remove the common barberry bush from important areas of wheat production in the United States.

Chronology

ca. 1600s

Settler-colonists transport the popular barberry bush from Europe to North America.

ca. 1800s

Settler-colonists take barberry plants and seeds west and north as they move into the continent’s midsection.

ca. 1900

The common barberry is widely distributed and firmly established across the northern half of the United States.

1916

Stem rust disease becomes a constant threat to wheat crops in the Upper Midwest. The epidemic of 1916 is the worst on record, destroying approximately 61 percent of the wheat crop in Minnesota alone.

1918

The United States enters World War I, and the fear of food shortages drives efforts to protect crops, with wheat a top priority.

1918

As a result of the leadership of Elvin Charles Stakman of the University of Minnesota, the federal–state Barberry Eradication Program is established.

1918

Minnesota’s Barberry Eradication Program begins on March 19, 1918, with the passage of Temporary Order No. 28.

1919

The Minnesota State Legislature passes a stronger, more permanent barberry eradication law in March.

ca. 1920

Barberry eradication leaders in Minnesota come up with novel strategies for involving the public in the program.

1930s

New Deal work-relief programs during the Great Depression provide for large numbers of eradication field workers to remove barberry bushes.

1960s

Serious stem rust epidemics on the American Great Plains disappear—in large part due to the Barberry Eradication Program.

ca. 1970s

The federal–state Barberry Eradication Program ends.