# New Hay field overcome with weeds. My solution (video incl.). Now what?



## tmac196 (Aug 26, 2014)

I posted this in the wrong forum earlier and have added the post here in a more appropriate place.

We still have not performed our first cutting here in SE Michigan due to record, frequent rainfall which began on May 31st and has not let up long enough to get our fields dried out. As a consequence, my freshly seeded hay field has been overrun by weeds (Lambs Quarters and a species I have yet to identify), some of which are not recommended for our forage target, horses.

Each day I grew more anxious watching the weeds tower over the alfalfa and grass seedlings, flower and then form seed pods. Knowing that we will be unable to cut the field in the near future, I drove straight in with my bush hog raised to 18 inches and chopped as many of them down as I could.

Video here:






The are significant volumes of alfalfa hidden among the weeds and these have been revealed, but are difficult to see in the video. The grasses are, predictably for an early April seeding, lagging behind. I am in need of feedback as to the wisdom of this act. Short of a weed wiper (which no one has in my neck of the world and according to my Co-op, "Nobody uses them thangs anymore"), what else could I have done?


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Here's the good news----and the bad news.

Good news--If you shredded them as they were starting to bloom, you done did good. You got the weeds before they could form seeds.

And the bad news--Some weeds are so well engineered, that the seed will continue to form even after shredding.

Then there's the worst news--If the seed had already formed, even if they have not yet shelled out, you have scattered the seed through out your field and pressed it nicely into the soil, thus doing a very good job of replanting it.

Weed control in a mixed forage field is really tough! The only chemicals I have found that are effective are Sencor and Dual Magnum---and they can only be applied after dormancy.

I think I would have mowed and baled it, maybe as ditch hay, to get the weeds, and much of the weed seeds.

Let us know how shredding worked.

Ralph


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

The tall spikey weed looks like mullein and, if so, it is a terrible weed. Seed can stay viable in the ground for decades. Were the tops starting to show yellow for the bloom? Ally or Cimmaron is deadly on it in low doses. Like Ralph said, seeds on that critter keep going even after being cut so you are going to be dealing with it for years. It loves bare spots but that is not a requirement.

Look for the rosettes both later this year and next spring and after first cutting. You are going to have to spray multiple times. I suspect that both of the herbicides I mentioned will kill the alfalfa as well so someone else will have to give you the best approach. I assume it was not RUR alfalfa.

Attached are two pics from the weed guide I did.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

One other thought- If you have that many weeds now, you are likely to have a bumper crop of winter annuals next spring as well. probably should be thinking about how you are going to control them by spraying this fall while they are tiny. Thinking chickweed, henbit, speedwell and mustard. They are all opportunists so if there are barespots in the field as the summer annuals die away like lambsquarters, they will follow.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Sencor and Dual Magnum are both labeled for alfalfa/grass mixtures---but they must be applied AFTER dormancy, otherwise they will kill the alfalfa/grass if applied now. Read the label for your crop and area.

Ralph


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I'm amazed you could get across the ground at all, must have some sandier soils up your way?

After the last 4 inches in a week there are some places in my yard I can't even walk right, and even have a seep coming out of the driveway now.


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## tmac196 (Aug 26, 2014)

Here are some pictures of the weeds. Sandy soil here, yes. We had another 5/8" of rain today. Unbelievable.

The tall weed, I believe is Pigweed (Lambs quarters), the shorter fern-like, frondy plant is unidentified.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

tmac196 said:


> Here are some pictures of the weeds. the shorter fern-like, frondy plant is unidentified.


Appears to be Ragweed.

Regards, Mike


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

That green bushy stuff sure looks like Ragweed to me too. Not sure what the tall white skinny stuff is.


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## tmac196 (Aug 26, 2014)

Update:

I just wanted to post two pictures of the field as it stands currently. These were taken 4 weeks after the field was cut and baled for the first time in late July.. The alfalfa is doing well and very few weeds can be seen. The grasses are very sparse. I harbor no delusions that my problem is solved, only that it appears to have made for a better "second" cutting in a few weeks. I will need to wait until next season to see how heavy the weed pressure will be.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

RR alfalfa sure would have been handy in your field.....but, onto the future. When the weather just starts warming next spring, walk through your field every 2-3 days and when you see weeds FIRST coming and the rosette or diameter of the weed about the size of a nickel and the the plant a inch or so tall, then is the time to hit the field with 2-4DB. It will do a very good job of killing weeds at this stage....you may have to spray again in two weeks or so...but this will give you a huge leg-up on weed control. Then later as the alfalfa plants start growing you will need to use other chemicals that have been mentioned. If you will stay on top of the situation the entire season next year, then subsequent year management will be much much better.

Regards, Mike


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

What we did on our RR alfalfa field was baleage the first cut of weeds and some alfalfa then spray Honcho. We got pretty bummed out by the volume of weeds, but it all turned into feed! The cows love the baleage of russian thistle, feather grass and alfalfa. The alfalfa is in real well now, looking to dry hay next week.


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