# Weed Killer



## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

We have a lot of weeds, burdocks especially! I would like to kill the weeds and have been told by a few people that it won't hurt the horses for weed killer to be used in the pasture. Our Pasture is an acre. We have 14 acres total but none is fenced in and we hay it each year. So I was thinking in the fall to use weed killer and if safe, keep the horses in the pasture(we only have two horses). Or move the pasture now, which we do not want to do! Then use weed killer in the spring and keep the horses off the pasture before the grass really grows and maybe hope it doesn't kill off for hay season. Is there a point in using the weed preventer/killer now? I am sure it is a great idea to do it in the spring but I know burdocks especially are biannual plants so I am hoping two summers and we will be free of all the weeds! What's everyone think? 

Another option is to simply use the weed killer on one side of the pasture and run a few strands of electric across the middle and split it for 24hrs or so and then reverse sides. Maybe that would work?


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## STT GUY (Apr 23, 2014)

miniheart said:


> We have a lot of weeds, burdocks especially! I would like to kill the weeds and have been told by a few people that it won't hurt the horses for weed killer to be used in the pasture. Our Pasture is an acre. We have 14 acres total but none is fenced in and we hay it each year. So I was thinking in the fall to use weed killer and if safe, keep the horses in the pasture(we only have two horses). Or move the pasture now, which we do not want to do! Then use weed killer in the spring and keep the horses off the pasture before the grass really grows and maybe hope it doesn't kill off for hay season. Is there a point in using the weed preventer/killer now? I am sure it is a great idea to do it in the spring but I know burdocks especially are biannual plants so I am hoping two summers and we will be free of all the weeds! What's everyone think?
> 
> Another option is to simply use the weed killer on one side of the pasture and run a few strands of electric across the middle and split it for 24hrs or so and then reverse sides. Maybe that would work?


 We use a preemergent and water it in thoroughly and weeds are not a problem. Now and then there is a rouge which requires roundup spot treatment, but its rare.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Read the instructions on the weed killer. Some of them are not safe for grazing for 7 days or longer. Do not let your horses on grass within 24 hrs of spraying weed killers, most dont even have a chance to work within that time frame. I would never use pre emergent in a pasture.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

2-4D is labeled for pastures but it works best when plants are actively growing not going dormant for winter.

A spray bottle with vinegar will kill most weeds. Some of the tougher plants will take several applications to kill but there is no worry about poison. It will kill grass too so it's a spot spray only. They even make an AG strength vinegar.

Burdock is a big enough plant where you can easily spray it individually. It will take a couple apps of either vinegar or 2-4d to kill it. Tough plant. If they are small I pop them out with an old knife though they do make a weeding tool that works ok.

It's a short lived plant. Usually dies after going to seed. If you keep the adult plants from seeding you will eventually win.


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## miniheart (Apr 18, 2011)

Unfortunately it's not a burdock plant here or there, it's the entire acre with clumps in a 30ft diameter. I am trying to convince my husband to actually use our tractor loader to scrap an inch or two of dirt before the ground flies and just take the larger clumps and pull up the sod and hope it grows back next spring or seed it in the spring. This year we tried to keep it mowed but we had issues with out brush hog and missed on too many cuts and it went crazy! Then the burdocks would grow just tall enough that the brush hog wouldn't be able to cut it and it still got all over the horses, not as bad though. 

My other option I thought of is simply waiting until spring and buying a small, cheap push mower. The land has been cleared of all rocks a long time ago except for a few that are just too deep to get out and I know where those are and thankfully the burdocks are not as bad there. That might be an easier, simpler option as well. A push mower and some grass seed in the spring. Another thing I have been doing is putting the round bales on the large clumps in the center with no round bale feeder and the horses are covering the burdocks with stray hay and killing the vegetation in that spot, then this spring we can scrap it all up with the loader.


Maybe that will help?


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I do my fields with a push mower. It helps lots. I've got 20 acres fenced but I think only about 13 or 14 acres are grass now. The mowing is near endless keeping the tree saplings back along with other weeds.

Way out back I was loosing the battle badly last summer so I did break down and get a little pressure sprayer and some 2-4d. It kills the broadleafed plants and leaves the grasses behind. I could spot spray or sweep an area at arms length.

There was a lot of fill dumped in that area to level it out and it brought in a lot of ragweed, burdock, japanese knotweed. It pretty much went nuts and was choking out the grass. Pretty much took mowing and spraying all summer to get a handle on it. I did notice a few seedling burdocks sprouting a few weeks ago but I'll be able to get them with a quart sprayer full of something easily enough in the spring.

It's the common white yarrow that's my nemesis out there now. It survives the mowing. It reblooms after being cut. The horses don't even like to graze around it because of the scent. Mowing during a dry spell took out a lot of the weeds that couldn't survive the drying. Not so for the yarrow. It's stayed green and healthy looking and spraying it with the herbicide required a soaking. I think those fine leaves just didn't hold enough of it for long enough.

Grass pasture weed control : Horse : University of Minnesota Extension

Ask the Expert -- Farm and Pasture Management


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