# Mystery weed in my hay! Help Identify this



## misstaylor84 (Mar 15, 2013)

I have been searching all over the internet, found this palce and am hoping somebody here can help me. This has been showing up in hay that my cousin buys. She boards her horses with mine so we take turns buying hay. There are big clumps of this weed/grass all through the hay and the horses don't care a lot for it. I have had several say foxtail but it isn't prickly at all. Others say it is sage grass but I looked up pictures of sage and it doesn't really look like that either







Here is a pic. The entire top is very soft, not prickly, and it clings to everything. If you've ever seen/felt the fluff that falls from Cottonweed trees this stuff is just like that. I want to find out what it is and if it is any risk to the horses, especially to a pregnant mare.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

How about a location....squares?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

That is broomsage it will not hurt the animals to eat it but it isn't very palatable when it is mature with seed heads like that in the photo.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Looks like late season broomsedge


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> Looks like late season broomsedge


I agree I saw some of that last year on some real good fields were you would normally would not see it . We think our midsummer heat combined with the drought brought it on.


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## misstaylor84 (Mar 15, 2013)

Thank you all! I am located in northeast Arkansas and we did have a drought last summer.


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## whitmerlegacyfarm (Aug 26, 2011)

Yes, sure looks like Broomsedge, i got the same stuff here, thrives in low PH. I thought i could thin it out but nope. More then likely your PH is getting low and needs some Lime. I was down at 5.2 for PH. My horses won't eat it. It's a heck of a mess baling it.


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