This week, I offered the first fertilizer and pesticide recertification training for 2024 in Clinton County. Farmers who are applying fertilizer to 50 acres or more of land, and farmers using restricted use chemicals must go through this recertification training every three years.
One of the activities I offer for the training is weed identification with live weeds. I have two sets of weeds, one contains broadleaf weeds such as Palmer Amaranth, Red Root Pigweed, and Waterhemp. The other set contains grass type weeds such as Barnyard Grass, Yellow, Green, and Giant Foxtail. It is important that hay producers be able to identify foxtail weeds in their hayfields, because heavily infested hay can become virtually unmarketable, especially to a horse owner.
Although weeds aren’t currently growing outside, livestock producers are feeding hay this time of year, some of which could be infested with foxtail. Hay with large amounts of foxtail can be especially detrimental to horse health, as the spines from the foxtail seedhead become lodged into the gums of the horse, producing lesions and infection. Of course, horses can graze foxtail grass in the pasture when it is still in the vegetative stage with no problem, it is only when the grass has gone to seed that we have concerns.
Foxtail can be difficult to control in grass pastures and hayfields because foxtail itself is a grass, so there are no options for using selective herbicides to control foxtails without there being some detriment to the forage grasses we want to be in the field. Ultimately there are two practical approaches to removing foxtails from our hayfields and pastures. The first option is pasture renovation, and the second is complete pasture or hayfield burn-down.
Pasture renovation consists of taking soil samples to understand how to adjust soil health in terms of pH and soil nutritional value. Adjusting timing for mowing hay or plowing under certain areas in the hayfield or pasture where foxtail infestation is evident. Maintaining good soil health will in turn promote a healthy forage stand. If we have a strong forage stand, it is likely that the good forages will be able to out-compete the foxtail grass weeds. Although there is most likely a considerable amount of foxtail seeds in the soil, regular mowing and keeping the foxtails from going to seed will help reduce plant population over time.
Complete pasture burn-down with a chemical herbicide is another option, but make sure to read the entirely of the chemical label to be aware of any restrictions that follow, such as re-seeding restrictions or grazing restrictions. Managing foxtail weeds requires more of an Integrated Pest management (IPM) approach by making sure that your soil is healthy enough to promote strong forage crops to out compete yellow, Green, and Giant Foxtail.
Brooks Warner is the Ag & Natural Resources Educator at OSU Extension Clinton County.
