# Best Weed Spray For Horse Pasture?



## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

We're going to be spraying for weeds this year but I wanted to know which spray would be best for the horse pasture. I will probably still have one horse on pasture when we spray so I would like it to be safer for grazing animals.
The weeds covering our field are mainly those yellow buttercups and a few dandelions but not much else.
Also, which time is best to spray and is there a recommended routine or is once a year alright? 
Thanks in advance for your advice!


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

Grazon is usually best for pastures, but you need a license to buy it. Time to spray is before any of the weeds have gone to seed.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

We use 2-4-D and purchase it thru our local Co-op; no license is needed.

The best thing would be to contact your county Co-Op and get their input


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

Do you leave your horses in the pasture when you spray 2-4-D?


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

squirrelfood said:


> Do you leave your horses in the pasture when you spray 2-4-D?


I don't but, I have read on the forums of folks that do. 

The Co-Op folks also say it's safe but coward that I am, I put everyone in the yard for the day and we try our darndest to get 20 acres done in one day. Everything is a hill, a bowl, or ledge so it's an all day event:-|

I put them back on the sprayed pasture the next day, without issue


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

Do you have the equivalent of a County Agent? We have County Agents in every rural county that are graduates of the State Agricultural Universities and they can tell you what kills the weeds you have and how to use it.

Grazon P + D is restricted, kills fish if there is any runoff and even a tiny bit of drift will kill gardens and flowers a long way away. It also persists in hay and forage and using manure from animals eating grass or hay from it will kill a garden 5 years later. [We know that from experience.] I has a good 'carry-over' and will kill a lot of weeds coming up several weeks later.

If you only have dandelions and ragweed and do not have real noxious weeds like bindweed or Canada Thistle, you might want to just use 2-4-D. It is a lot safer, has no residual or carry-over, but kills most 'easy' broad-leaf weeds it contacts. 

We just got through spraying most of the place with Grazon P + D. We used 2-4-D last year, but too many weeds persisted and we needed something better this year. We have had a really bad weed problem ever since we started having terrible drought conditions and had to buy whatever hay we could find. That means we have fed a lot of weedy hay and the horses planted those weeds everywhere. We've had this place 33 years and were so proud that we had so few weeds and really great grass. No more. We will probably fight weeds from now on.

Sometimes, you can spot spray really tough weeds with a strong chemical using a hand sprayer. We do that with wild blackberries and green briars. We use Tordon or Remedy (again, restricted chemicals here) but they kill really tough stuff including brush.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Cherie said:


> We have had a really bad weed problem ever since we started having terrible drought conditions and had to buy whatever hay we could find. That means we have fed a lot of weedy hay and the horses planted those weeds everywhere. We've had this place 33 years and were so proud that we had so few weeds and really great grass. No more. We will probably fight weeds from now on.


That is what happened to us. We were in a 2-1/2 year drought with Exceptional Drought status for the last year. Our ground was so dry and cracked, I thought I was back in California's Low Desert. 

Even some of the weeds died off; the ones that didn't took over the pasture.

Like you, we had a terrific pasture with great native grasses and lost it to the drought. The year we came out of the Exceptional Drought was the year we put the 2-4-D down.

We haven't sprayed the main pastures since 2009 but, for us, keeping them bush hogged at 6" - 8" has done wonders getting rid of most of the weeds. 

I had about 1/2 acre overrun with hop clover and spreading at a fast rate. I got the smaller tractor with the belly mower, dropped the mower almost down to the dirt and cut that section six ways to the county line and back. We had enough rain that next time I bush hogged that area, nice grass was thriving instead of being choked out by the hop clover.

I hate that hop clover and figure it spread when I got some hay contaminated with it. Some of the bales were so full of it, I had to give them to my cow neighbor


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

Thanks guys. I know my motherinlaw used grazon anytime they sprayed but I had never heard of 2-4-D. I will definitely look into both!

How many times do you typically spray? just once? I know there are some weed sprays out there that require a 2nd or 3rd application every few weeks to be fully affective.


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

I think spring is meant to be the best time for spraying weeds when the plants are actively growing but I also spot spray throughout summer/early autumn and it seems to work fine. We usually use tordon pasture boss broadleaf spray which gets the buttercup/clover etc and roundup for things like gorse. 
I didnt do enough spraying last spring so we have had quite a lot of buttercup over summer. I think as long as you do it thoroughly and the weeds arent too serious once a year is fine. 
In New Zealand you do not require a license for these sprays. I like to keep the horses off sprayed areas till it starts dying off then I can go back and get the areas I've missed.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

Grazon or Tordon have enough residual that you do not have to spray more than once. 2-4-D only kills on contact, so later germinating weeds may need a second spraying or at least spot sprayed.

Our biggest problem now is going to be Johnson Grass. We never had any of it, but the hay brought it in and then it is so drought tolerant, that it thrived when the good grass fizzled.


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

One thing I do plan on doing next spring is getting some of the stuff that colours the spray so you can see where you have already sprayed - helpful when the spray drys quickly in the sun.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

lilruffian said:


> Thanks guys. I know my motherinlaw used grazon anytime they sprayed but I had never heard of 2-4-D. I will definitely look into both!


2-4-D is an herbicide chemical that is contained in all the weed killers that are labelled "pasture safe" and there are many brands that all work the same (we typically use the brand PasturePro). It is very effective and we don't keep the horses off it after spraying. As with most chemicals, they do tell you to keep lactating mares off it, though. From year to year, though, don't be surprised if the weeds "move" from the areas you sprayed to ones that you didn't. All the hay farmers I know around here have to spray every spring.


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