# Bed Straw



## NCSteveH (Jun 30, 2009)

While walking one of my fields this weekend I came across a fairly decent amount of bed straw in the field. This field has been in decline for the last few years and I was planning on renovating it next year but now I feel that maybe I should bite the bullet and do it this year. The biggest fear that I have is we are in a moderate drought and if the lack of rain continues then there is a strong possibility of winterkill. This field is in northern Maine just north of Bangor so I am fast coming up on decision time. I'm thinking do a chemical burn down then disk it all in and put it into alfalfa with a winter wheat nurse crop. Anyone have any other suggestions?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

What the heck is Bed Straw


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Catchweed bedstraw is a nasty weed. It has a stem that has 5 sides and a leaf pattern of 6-8 leaves on a whorl. It tends to crowd out everything else in the spring. It has almost no root system. It has a velcro-like tendency to stick to everything. It is a highly prolific seed spreader.

Here is a link to pictures and a brief description:

Google Image Result for [URL=http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/bedstraw8-25b]http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/bedstraw8-25b.jpg[/URL]

The only thing I've found that really controls it is AIM EC. This is VERY expensive--$200/qt. But it does control it.

My suggestion: do everything you can to get it under control--it spreads like wildfire!

Hope this helps

Ralph


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I have some of those damn things in a flower bed. Can't pull em out fast enough. If it's the same thing, they almost are sticky as they'll cling to your pant legs, shoes, the dogs or whatever.


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## maknhay (Jan 6, 2010)

Dang, and I thought dealing with thistles and Leafy Spurge out here was a challenge. Good luck to you!


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

Forefront r&p should take them out pretty well. A little expensive but not bad. Fall plowing will do it too. In either case if they have gone to seed this year in any cutting they will be back from seed. They say the seed will only last a year and be viable so it may take another season to erradicate.

Kelly


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## NCSteveH (Jun 30, 2009)

I was able to get out and spray the field with Torpedo on the 23rd, so far so good, it is burning down nicely, next weekend I will run the disk over it and drill in a crop, either winter wheat or triticale as I do have a market for straw.


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

I like that idea. Having the small grain should really put the pressure on that bed straw. Just be sure to control the regrowth of the seed you leave in the field with Poast or something else so you don't end up with a small grain weed in your alfalfa.


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## NCSteveH (Jun 30, 2009)

Yahoo I'm all done, finished drilling triticale just as the rain started moving in from hurricane Earl, got a nice steady rain all day yesterday that totaled 1.1" on the gauge. I put up a total of 19742 small squares this year and have just under 4000 second cut stacked in the barn to sell in the winter/spring. One thing that I must stress is you must know what your cost is to produce a bale, it would have been way to easy to shoot a price from the hip and hit myself in the foot but I took the time and figured it all out, (taxes, equip, DEPRECIATION, repairs, maint, fuel&oil, insurance, PROFIT!!!,etc.) if I used Craigslist as a guide I would have had to sell what is in the barn and not planted this field to break into the black, I'm there now. Time to head back to NC and relax and look for a farm..................


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## vermont (Jun 20, 2011)

Here in Vermont bed straw is becoming a real problem. 10 years ago nobody heard of it. Now if you have a field that wasn't reseeded in the last couple of years, it'll be full of bedstraw. Nasty stuff. If you can mow it a couple times and keep fertility up it helps prevent it from spreading, but I fear the only way to get rid of an infestation is by using an herbicide, or putting the land into row crops for a season or two.

Whats it look like in Maine? Is it everywhere? I think it likes lower P.H, which ME has lots of, no?


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

The worst part of catchweed bedstraw is that it kills other grasses.

I have used AIM successfully on it, but it is EXPENSIVE!!!!! $800/gallon! I tried Strike 3 with fair success this year, but the most effective is to pull the crap out by hand before it goes to seed. "Ohhh, Boys...I got a job for you!"

Ralph


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## johno (Jul 5, 2011)

I'm in central Maine, and have never re-seeded any fields in 10-years since owning this grass farm. I started hearing about bed straw at some pasture walks a few years ago, but hadn't seen any in my fields until 2 years ago. It got worse last year, and this year it's pretty much in all the fields. It hasn't really taken over yet, but it's discouraging for those of us who had been hoping not to have to re-work our native pastures and hayground. I just mowed and baled all of it up this year, I'll have to give some thought as to what to do. I think some are just living with it, but haven't talked to anyone lately who's been living with it for 4 or 5 years to see what the end result is, if you're not killing, or plowing and re-seeding.


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