# First time spraying hay



## Wbeers690 (Jul 9, 2021)

So my father in law and myself are taking over hay production at a property he has cared for for 15 years. The hay fields have always been cut late and round bale for cattle ( done by someone else )and we never really used it ourselves. Now we are getting equipment to square bale it ourselves for the several horses on property and have a hurdle to cross. We want to be able to spray for broadleaf weeds but I’m wondering what products we can get since neither of us has a license. Looking to spray nearly 40 acres. Will have access to a close cab tractor. A boom sprayer if we want it and can even put gps in tractor to monitor passes. Being located in New York I’m worried our options on products are going to be limited. Anyone cross this bridge before and what were you able to buy with no licenses in this awful state.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Check out 2,4d, dicamba, and metasulfuron. They are among many which generally unrestricted. I don’t know about NY specifically but the labels are all available online.


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## Wbeers690 (Jul 9, 2021)

8350HiTech said:


> Check out 2,4d, dicamba, and metasulfuron. They are among many which generally unrestricted. I don’t know about NY specifically but the labels are all available online.


Everything seems to be restricted in New York. It’s truly amazing.


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## HayMike (Mar 22, 2011)

Hire the spraying, at least at first.


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## Wbeers690 (Jul 9, 2021)

HayMike said:


> Hire the spraying, at least at first.


We have tried that this year but everyone seems to be to busy to get it to. This is also the reason the gay never got cut on time in the best. The old saying, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Holds true a lot for us it seems


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## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

You don't state what weeds which can make a big difference as to what product is best. You need to talk to your county ag commissioners office and get the licensing started so your ready for next year. At least the county issues permits in the Land of Fruits and Nuts called California. Pre covid it was only a day or 2 and you could get a permit. Old ones where rolled over with covid and i don't know of anyone starting with nothing like you are. Good luck, more a case of not losing your cool than having be a expert on spraying here.


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## AndyH359 (Jan 3, 2012)

Wbeers90,

You mentioned that you are looking to get rid of broadleaf weeds. (You are in NY, I am in PA.) So I presume you have mostly grass types of hay (orchard grass/timothy/brome or the like). 2,4-D and Dicamba are great broadleaf sprays. I recently started using a product called Latigo. It is a 2,4-D/Dicamba combination (both chemicals, one spray solution) that does NOT require a license to spray (at least not in PA). I can get it for about $63 per gallon but you only use 1-2 pints/acre so that works out to about $8-15 per acre. (The price of sprays and the amount you use is all over the board. To compare apples to apples, always look at your 'per acre' cost of the spray.)

What you didn't say is if there are any legumes in the field like clover or alfalfa. 2,4-D and Dicamba will take those out. So if you are trying to save the legumes, you will want to use a product other than 2,4-D or Dicamba.

Also, are you have issues with foxtail? In the part of the country, foxtail can be hard to deal with if you don't cut enough. Once they germinate, the only option is glyphosate but that takes out everything green. For horses, foxtail is a definite turn off. ProwlH2O was recently labeled for use in cool season grasses (OG/timothy/brome and the like). You put it down pre-emergence in the spring (as in late March or as soon as you can get on the ground with out tearing it up.) It prevents any foxtail seeds in the ground from germinating. And being an annual, if you can stop the plant from growing this year, there are no seeds to grow next year. Oh, and ProwlH2O also does NOT require a license here in PA.

There are plenty of good choices out there that don't require license. Your extension agent or the person at your local feed store (not a chain feed store, the local guy probably has lots of company contacts to get info from) are good places to start.

Good luck.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

Wbeers690 said:


> So my father in law and myself are taking over hay production at a property he has cared for for 15 years. The hay fields have always been cut late and round bale for cattle ( done by someone else )and we never really used it ourselves. Now we are getting equipment to square bale it ourselves for the several horses on property and have a hurdle to cross. We want to be able to spray for broadleaf weeds but I’m wondering what products we can get since neither of us has a license. Looking to spray nearly 40 acres. Will have access to a close cab tractor. A boom sprayer if we want it and can even put gps in tractor to monitor passes. Being located in New York I’m worried our options on products are going to be limited. Anyone cross this bridge before and what were you able to buy with no licenses in this awful state.


As mentioned by others in this thread, if you have and want to keep clover your choices are limited to non-existant for broadleaf control by herbicide. However, as much as I like clover as cheap protein and a good stand thickener, not to mention the benefit of fixing nitrogen, I gave up on it long ago in pursuit of broad leaf control. Look at self sufficiency spraying as a 6-9 month goal and contract Grazon application with your local licensed sprayer some time in October. You need the winter annuals to just be popping out-here in northern shenandoah valley in va, that is about the third week in october when you still get some warm days. You may be slightly earlier. If applied correctly, it really reduces your winter annual pressure in spring to nil. Then in April you can come back with a 24D dicamba mix that will set you up for the summer except for foxtail and crabgrass. Grazon is grazon, grazon Next or duracor (the lastest version). For the d and dic mix-it's brash, weedmaster or rangestar. I have no idea what the restrictions are in NY. However, you can't move hay offsite with grazon for 18mons after application. Not a problem if you are using the hay for yourself, problem for selling. Pasturegard does not have this restriction but is not nearly as good as grazon. HTH


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

You can use 2,4-DB as a herbicide to control broadleafs and it will not affect legumes (alfalfa, clover).


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