Weeds In One Of My Pastures . . .

mark.r · Apr 23, 2008

have_blue said:
Sounds like black medic or burr clover.

Black medic is a low growing plant, and more of a problem on low cut grass. Letting the grass grow higher prevents germination in the spring. Once established, it's hard to get rid of.

Burr clover is a taller growing plant, and responds very well to 24-D.

Interesting . . . what about White Landino Clover? Looking back at the seed mix I used, both have 4 and 5 percent respectively of Landino Clover in them. The only thing I can't figure out is why my one pasture doesn't have it. The only thing I can figure is because that field was completely renovated from 100% dirt and my reading says the Landino does like certain condition. Wonder if that is one of them as oppose to over seeding.

EastTexFrank · Apr 23, 2008

You probably need to find out exactly what it is that is in your pasture. There are several goods sites on the web to do this. Some of the best are run by the chemical companies.

Weed/Brush Identification

The above is one I use a lot. It links the weed to the chemical that Dow suggests for its control. Have a look at the chemical. Some will be 2-4-D based. Down in Texas, the use of 2-4-D is confusing. If you buy it in a container larger than 1 quart, you need a sprayer's license. If the container is less than a quart, then you don't need a license. So, you can literally go to WalMart and buy several quarts of the stuff with no problem (or some chemical like Weed-B-Gone that contains 2-4-D). It'll be a little more expensive like that but if you think you are going to be a one time user, it's an easy way to do it. If you think that you will be spraying more often, then go ahead and get your sprayer's license. It'll save you money in the long run.

There are a lot of chemicals out there from all the different chemical companies. If you think that you can take care of the problem with straight 2-4-D then go for it because it is relatively cheap and it's effective on a large number of broadleaf weeds. If it doesn't work then you will have to change to something a little more sophisticated but it all starts with weed identification.

AKfish · Apr 24, 2008

Sure hope you don't have some bad characters showin' up at your new field...

I'd be grabbin' several of those mysterious fellows and headin' on down to my NRCS office.

I'll betcha they know somethin' about who's bad and who's good!

AKfish

mark.r · Apr 24, 2008

No, I think we are onto something. I talked to my barn manager last night and we think we narrowed it down. I used the following mix from Southern States:

Paddock Mix
27.59% Benchmark Orchardgrass
19.98% Polim Perennial Ryegrass
19.77% Kentucky Bluegrass
14.97% Select Tall Fescue
9.96% Clair Timothy
4.99% White Landino Clover

Pasture Mix
27.80% Benchmark Plus Orchardgrass
24.97% Polim Tertaploid Perennial Ryegrass
24.81% Kentucky Bluegrass
15.00% Derby Timothy
3.26% White Landino Clover

Here is the deal. It has only showed up in my large pasture and not in the small paddock. The large pasture got about 175lbs. of of seed (three bags of each mix). The small paddock got about 18-20lbs of paddock mix. BUT, it was seeded into bare dirt and not over-seeded into grazed down grass. In my opinion, it would be easy to see why very little to none of the clover germinated in my lower field with so little applied and no cover from already standing grass. However, my larger pasture recieved a lot more Clover seed over-seeded into already established grass. It seems to have germinated but not everywhere.

Furthermore, it HAS to be something we introduced. My neighbors field buts up to mine and they have NOTHING, NADA, NO clover. From what I see it looks like a clover plant and it is starting have a little white on top.

So the question is why does Southern States include it in their mix? I read that it is suppose to be good forage for beef cattle? If so they should be specific about that because they knew I was using it on a horse farm. Secondly, should I just leave it or try and get ride of it using 2-4-D. I know Kay doesn't want to spray unless we absolutely have to because of the horses grazing (I know, I know) but . . .

Western · Apr 24, 2008

Sounds like a pasture mix for your climate. I would leave it and see what the horses do with it in a month. If it is confined to specific areas it should be easy to control later.
2-4-D works great, I used every year in combination to burning on my hay fields. I rarely had any weeds, I would have the 2-4-D put out with liquid fertilyzer on the 1st application, then I did my own fertilyzing wth a co-op hopper.
Another option may be get yourself a couple of beef calves and put them in with the horses, the stomach in a cow is much larger so they double as a parasite control system and will help keep pasture parasites down that will effect your horses, and they will eat the clover down. Just a thought.

mark.r · Apr 24, 2008

After thinking about it on my way into work this morning I figure I have no idea what the **** I am talking about. My mind says clover mixed in with the seed but eyes say weed. At any rate I took a few pictures an perhaps someone can identify it.

Two close ups . . .

Here you can see we have a good stand of grass that has come in but this other "stuff" has come right along with it . . .

Of course there is the other odd weed here or there. That's to be expected, but this stuff is virtually everywhere. Just doesn't make sense how it's just on our field. It really is like it was planted there. Definitely didn't have it last year.

For comparisons sake, here is the small paddock planted the same day using just the paddock mix. Very little weeds at all, very healthy looking.

firefighter9208 · Apr 24, 2008

What percent "noxious weeds" did the grass seed say it had in it? Very rarely is there none. I'm not sure what you have there. Someone else will chime in.

Chris

mark.r · Apr 24, 2008

firefighter9208 said:
What percent "noxious weeds" did the grass seed say it had in it? Very rarely is there none. I'm not sure what you have there. Someone else will chime in.

Chris

Good point Chris. I don't remember exactly off hand, I have the label at home. It was very, very minor I believe. Much less than any other ingredient.

mark.r · Apr 25, 2008

After a bit of research and talking to a few locals, the thought is it is a "Starwort". Not quite sure which one but it's in the family.

PLANTS Profile for Stellaria (starwort) | USDA PLANTS

ddivinia · Apr 25, 2008

mark.r said:
After thinking about it on my way into work this morning I figure I have no idea what the **** I am talking about. My mind says clover mixed in with the seed but eyes say weed. At any rate I took a few pictures an perhaps someone can identify it.

Two close ups . . .

Here you can see we have a good stand of grass that has come in but this other "stuff" has come right along with it . . .

Of course there is the other odd weed here or there. That's to be expected, but this stuff is virtually everywhere. Just doesn't make sense how it's just on our field. It really is like it was planted there. Definitely didn't have it last year.

For comparisons sake, here is the small paddock planted the same day using just the paddock mix. Very little weeds at all, very healthy looking.