# Shepherds purse in my stand



## JoJack18 (Apr 20, 2021)

New member and first time posting on this website. I have always gathered a great deal of information from reading past forums/books and listening to the more experienced, so i am all ears and need some help. I bought a small farm that has a 9 acre alfalfa field, with some grass mixed in. Previous owner let the field go and it was overrun with weeds last year. I had a local farmer bale it up and i let him have it. I was trying to figure out last fall what i could do with the field, and with no sort of tillage equipment. I had a local company spray the field with round up (RR Alfalfa) to kill off any winter annuals, in early March i planted 110lbs/acre of Goliath oats to get at least one decent yield off the field this year. Plan is to cut the oats and bale it, then till down the alfalfa and replant oats this fall again until spring to where i can replant alfalfa back in the field. (6 month rest for auto toxicity to break down). Now to get to my point. My oats shot right up and are around 4 inches and my alfalfa came in a little thicker than i expected but now i have a field full of shepherds purse. Everything that i have read seems to point towards this not being a good mix at all in my hay so, what should i do? I cant put round up down or 2-4-d because of the oats/alfalfa. My thought would be just to cut my loss with the alfalfa this cutting and bush hog this shepherds purse down, maybe giving the oats a chance to catch up and out pace the weeds, or do i just completely cut my loss and put herbicide down. Thank you for any input!


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I think Shepards Purse seed is toxic to horses.

Regards, Mike


----------



## LostBoulderFarm (Apr 30, 2021)

I initially thought Prowl H2O (Pendamethalin) would be a good treatment but think it would destroy your oats. https://assets.greenbook.net/Prowl_H2O_NVA_2016-04-195-0117.pdf

Maybe someone here will know a better treatment or seek out a specialist. Of course this all comes back to ROI. I ran into a similar issue last year with Foxtail and had to balance time and money to save or mow down and eat the loss. This is where I don't think margins for hay are smart/good enough to be very profitable. Folks who don't grow don't appreciate the time money and investment that goes into it. Not to get off topic... but I wish more appreciation was out there and willingness to see the value in good forage and hay quality. I have a few customers who appreciate the work and quality but the cheap (weed) producers drive prices way down, at least here in KY.

Anyway good luck and let me know how things turn out, I feel for ya.


----------

