USDA-ARS researchers at Oregon and Washington State Universities have recently publicized^* the results of a long-term field trials investigating the utility of native soil bacteria for selective control for the invasive annual grasses cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum, also known as “downy brome”), jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica), and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae).

Research into this new management tool started in the 1980s in eastern Washington when Pseudomonas (a common genus of soil bacteria native to much of the western United States and elsewhere) was found on the roots of winter wheat that had demonstrated poor early spring growth (but without...