Dane County’s 13 aquatic plant harvesters will aid county efforts to mitigate flooding in the Yahara Chain of Lakes in Wisconsin. Dane County’s total operating budget for lake weed management in 2019 is $773,400 – a more than 53 percent increase in funds compared to last year. Harvesting of aquatic plants occurs over an area
Floating weed harvesters have opened passages through Dane County Wisconsin’s dense tangles of underwater plants for about 50 years. The barges wield rotating cutting bars like those on farm combines to cut a submerged crop that is fertilized too well by runoff of nutrients like dairy manure. Each spring, the county launches a flotilla of