Pasture Mgmt.

[Texpolo1106]

Hey everyone! I have a 5 acre pasture that I needs some work. Weeds are starting to take over and there are bare spots all over. I have a sprayer and I am planning on getting a plug aerator. My initial thought is to spray PasturePro to kill the weeds and then start aerating. Just wondering if I am on the right track here or if I need to include another step to renovate the pasture. Thanks!

 

[sweettractors]

We have the New USA made Core aerators made by Tarter. 5 ft $1095. Ken Sweet

 

[EddieWalker]

First thing you need to do is to talk to your Ag Agent. They will give you advice on what to do and when to do it. Weeds are funny things. Spray them at the wrong time, and you just wasted your money. Time it right, and the results can be amazing!!!!

I was told to plan on it taking five years to get a pasture in really good shape. First you need to do a soil analysis to find out what your soil lacks. They will want to know what you will be growing on that dirt, and it's purpose. Grass can be for grazing or haying or just to look pretty. Different types of grass do better in differnt areas. Are you sure you have the best grass for your soil and climate?

Identifying the weeds is extremly important. You want to buy a chemical that will target those weeds, but not hurt your grass. You also need to know what time of the year the chemical works the best on the weed.

Every year, you will get a certain percentage of the weeds killed, and the soil will be a little better. First year, the results can be pretty impressive.

Good luck,
Eddie



Then you should identivy what weeds are

 

[JimRB]

Where I live if I spray it is mid June to kill bitterweed, pigweed or pokeweed. I have some other areas of weeds I spot spray. One good spraying at the right time got rid of most of the weeds (bitterweed) that were annoying. After that spot spraying with a big all pastures spraying ever few years. Actually I spray in the pastures the horses are not in. The horses go back in sprayed pastures after a good rain. Hand pulling bitterweed but that gets to be chore sometimes with 9 acres. Then I might be allowed to spray again.

Folks like to lime this time of year after a soil test.

If it is just one pasture and you are keeping livestock on it then you have a challenge. Our 8/9 acres is chopped up into 4 turnout areas. 2 big and 2 smaller. That lets the grasses recover from grazing assuming we have rain in the summer.

 

[Bison]

Hey everyone! I have a 5 acre pasture that I needs some work. Weeds are starting to take over and there are bare spots all over. I have a sprayer and I am planning on getting a plug aerator. My initial thought is to spray PasturePro to kill the weeds and then start aerating. Just wondering if I am on the right track here or if I need to include another step to renovate the pasture. Thanks!

How many and what animals are grazing that little field?

 

[blueriver]

Just saying if it was mine ... I would first thing "control burn" it off. Then determine what grass I want to dominate ... take a soil sample in to the extension office and specifically state I am growing ____________ Grass. Lime and Fertilize per the soil test and subsoil it ... I like Grazon for weed control cause it has a residual.

Thats just me though ....

 

[SandburRanch]

Over grazing causes weeds about 99 percent of the time. Rather than applying sprays spend you money on fertilizer and let the land lay fallow for 3 years.

 

[Texpolo1106]

Eddie: Talking to the local agent sounds like a good idea for sure. From the research I have done it looks like PasturePro will get most of the weeds we have. The biggest problems out here have been sandburs, broom weed and some blue weed that I cant ID. I guess its just dumb luck but I figured on about 5 yrs to renovate.

Generally we will only have a few horses in the pasture. every once in a while we might have a few cattle turned out but that would be rare.

Thanks for all the info guys! This forum has been more help than I can say.

 

[AQPC]

Try to avoid spraying because. YES, it will destroy weeds but it will also do much more than just that. It will in all likely hood kill many insects, and for a period of time disrupt the ecosystem of the land if you will. I know spraying seems very easy, if you can try to just let it lay fallow for a few years.

 

[blueriver]

sandburs, broom weed and some blue weed that I cant ID.

Good luck with the sand burs ... other than removing them with a hoe I don't know. Is this picture the blue weed?

 

[SandburRanch]

Good luck with the sand burs ... other than removing them with a hoe I don't know. Is this picture the blue weed?

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Bees can make some of the best honey from that blue weed that money can buy.

 

[Texpolo1106]

Ok guys. I couldn't find a picture online but I did find one weed that has made it through the winter. So here is the infamous blue weed that I can't ID. Hopefully someone can help me figure out what this thing is.

 

[blueriver]

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Bees can make some of the best honey from that blue weed that money can buy.

Yep ... I thought maybe he was mistaking it for a weed ... I don't know the kind that he has posted a picture of ... I assume you are a Sand Burr Expert !!

 

[sweettractors]

Here are 2 tools needed for good pasture management. A chain Harrow to spread manure and eliminate a breeding place for parasites and invigorate the existing grass stand and a Pasture renovator to aerate and incorperate new seeds into existing grass stands. Ken Sweet

 

[phiferpharm]

Ken, the teeth on the renovator look the same as the front of my box blade. So could you just drop the teeth on the front of the boxblade, raise the back to tilt it forward and get the same results?

 

[sweettractors]

Ken, the teeth on the renovator look the same as the front of my box blade. So could you just drop the teeth on the front of the boxblade, raise the back to tilt it forward and get the same results?

The renovator is designed to go up to 15 inches deep. You could do something shallow with a box blade tooth setup. Ken Sweet

 

[Texpolo1106]

Good luck with the sand burs ... other than removing them with a hoe I don't know. Is this picture the blue weed?

One trick I have heard of to cut down on the number of sand burs is to drag an old piece of carpet around the pasture. The sand burs will stick to the carpet, then just burn it! I haven't tried this yet but it seems like it should help a little.

 

[AKfish]

When I was younger - I used to have dreams... real nightmares about finding myself walking barefoot and becoming aware that I was "trapped" with sandburs all around me!!

I never did figure out what that meant... but, I sure do know how much I used to HATE those things!

Don't know for sure; but I wonder - would you need an applicator license to use NAPALM!?! :thumbsup:

Eddie's advice is spot on! An hour or so with your local NRCS folk's could save you a year or two of time to get the pasture back into good production as well as a fair bit of cash outlay.

AKfish

 

[deerefan]

As someone who does this on a regular basis, let me offer some helpful input. First, do as Eddie advised. Get the soil tested. Second, no herbicides, ever. A lot of grasses are not immune to herbicides and it will kill it also. Roatate livestock. A pasture should be dormant for 28 days after 7-10 days of grazing. Fertilize regularly, I use a mixture of manure and triple 13 for my bahia and the same mixture for my rye with ammonia (urea) for my rye. Also, using a harrow or root rake, break up the manure monthly and scratch the surface, allowing nutrients to get in. In the spring, I set my discs on the least aggressive setting, pass over the pasture and fertilize. I wait for the grass to get shin heighth before the first graze. Pretty soon you will find the grass will choke out most if not all your weeds.

 

[flusher]

Hey everyone! I have a 5 acre pasture that I needs some work. Weeds are starting to take over and there are bare spots all over. I have a sprayer and I am planning on getting a plug aerator. My initial thought is to spray PasturePro to kill the weeds and then start aerating. Just wondering if I am on the right track here or if I need to include another step to renovate the pasture. Thanks!

Every cubic inch of soil contains seeds--if you didn't plant those seeds, then they're weed seeds. Unless your herbicides kill the seeds, you're going to be growing weed crops.

I'd try to control the weeds with cultivation for a year or so and save $$$ you'd spend on herbicides. Mow the pasture (a flail mower is ideal), and then disc. Let the weeds grow for 2-3 months and disc again or use a spring tooth cultivator. You'll find that the birds will help you by pecking the weed seeds out of your cultivated pasture.