Russian Thistle

Matt E.

Member
Made a trip to the farm in western Montana last week. Have a 20 acre field, Dad passed away last winter and we weren't able to replant this year. I plowed it last fall. Well, about 2/3rds of it. Other 1/3 had grass so not much of a weed problem.

So it sat, a friend disked the plowed portion in June but wasn't able to get in it again. So I went back this fall to get the house ready for winter and had hopes to get the field in shape for next spring to plant oats.

Well, that wasn't so easy. We were able to run the disk through the grass/knapweed areas and I then was able to plow those areas and on one end the Russian thistle didn't grow too big and was able to plow most of it under. Taking off the center coulter helped on the 3 bottom plow, not plow very deep and run pretty fast.

So about 1/2 of the field has Russian thistle, giant plants. Some the size of a kitchen table and about 3 feet tall. Enough plant that it would lift the 560 Farmall noticeably when running over them. The disk wouldn't do much to them other then roll them in a ball, drag around into small piles and at least rip out of the ground. I disked about half of the area and just left the other half to figure out in the spring. This stuff is so fiberous that if one got on the plow point, it wouldn't cut through it sinking into the ground. And the plants were too big to roll through the plow, just plugged it up. And being a thistle, the spikes of one plant would grab on to the next plant, making a bigger mess.

So my thoughts are to run through the standing part with the haybine next spring. At least they will be cut off in rows. Maybe they will dry out and the haybine will crush them. If not, might burn in the rows or run through the old baler to burn in the pit. As for the other part of the field, might have to weld some tines on the loader bucket and run around pushing them into piles to burn. Don't know, we've never had this problem and the other farmers in the area haven't either. But nobody let their fields go and see what the result were.

Any ideas? Looks like I'll have to burn this garbage before getting 1/2 the field ready. And the plants are spaced just enough there would be no way of burning it all off. Bare ground other then the "tumbleweeds".
 
Admittedly, I'm a Midwesterner, but I have never heard of Russian thistle. Around here, the worst type of thistle is the perennial Canadian thistle.

What is a Russian thistle?

Dean
 
Tumble weed aka russian thistle. In parts of Texas in winter after dead wind will blow them into fences and block roads.
 
I would worry about breaking cycle sections if they are as big at the base as you are describing. Any chance of a coop or crop service type of company spraying the field to get a kill? Dry dead thistle will probably work better than living plants and then disc them? Maybe someone with a larger disc? Just thoughts. Good luck - Bob
 
Big mistake if you already had grass. If you keep it mowed grass will eventually come back. Rent it to someone who has a cow. It will eat the weeds and grass will again take over.
 
and at night with a good ole Texas norther blowing they can look like a bear running across the road in the headlights. at least my wife thought so.
 
Big mistake if you already had grass. If you keep it mowed grass will eventually come back. Rent it to someone who has a cow. It will eat the weeds and grass will again take over.
Wait till spring and the weeds will have blown away. Disk it and plant grass and oats as a cover crop.
 
From what I've read, I think they are annual so they should die over the winter. Maybe by spring they will crush under a disk and then I can plow if they break up. Worst case I just have to go over 1/2 of the field with the loader with tines and stab all of the big ones. Then get into a pile. Nothing diesel fuel and a propane torch shouldn't handle.

Whatever is left and small should be able to be plowed under. The whole field will go back into oats for hay. Its too dry out there and I don't have an irrigation well to make grass/alfalfa pay off. Should be able to run around with the 4-wheeler and the wand torch to burn up the stragglers. Just wanted to know if anyone else had any similar experiences with this crap. I guess we'll have a few days of extra work just to get the field ready to plant.
 
Let them dry out then disc them, then all you have
to worry about is the billions of seeds they leave
behind! It would be best to pile them and burn. But
with them dried they will shop up fairly good. Be
ready with a good chemical treatment next year
early, they will come back thick enough to choke out
your oats.
 
(quoted from post at 15:58:12 10/20/17) Admittedly, I'm a Midwesterner, but I have never heard of Russian thistle. Around here, the worst type of thistle is the perennial Canadian thistle.

What is a Russian thistle?

Dean
would have no idea what he has, as there are 200+ kinds of thistles and many people call them by the wrong name.
This is the one I fight & its not Russian as many around here call it!
http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/thistle.html
 
We have Bull thistles in my are but they are not a problem as they are annuals.

Just mow them before they seed out.

Canadian thistles, being perennials, are much more of a problem.

Dean
 
(quoted from post at 17:38:45 10/20/17) We have Bull thistles in my are but they are not a problem as they are annuals.

Just mow them before they seed out.

Canadian thistles, being perennials, are much more of a problem.

Dean
es, I expect so, however, you did say the magic words, "mow before seed out", because if not done, they will take over!
 
(quoted from post at 12:15:30 10/20/17) Made a trip to the farm in western Montana last week. Have a 20 acre field, Dad passed away last winter and we weren't able to replant this year. I plowed it last fall. Well, about 2/3rds of it. Other 1/3 had grass so not much of a weed problem.

So it sat, a friend disked the plowed portion in June but wasn't able to get in it again. So I went back this fall to get the house ready for winter and had hopes to get the field in shape for next spring to plant oats.

Well, that wasn't so easy. We were able to run the disk through the grass/knapweed areas and I then was able to plow those areas and on one end the Russian thistle didn't grow too big and was able to plow most of it under. Taking off the center coulter helped on the 3 bottom plow, not plow very deep and run pretty fast.

So about 1/2 of the field has Russian thistle, giant plants. Some the size of a kitchen table and about 3 feet tall. Enough plant that it would lift the 560 Farmall noticeably when running over them. The disk wouldn't do much to them other then roll them in a ball, drag around into small piles and at least rip out of the ground. I disked about half of the area and just left the other half to figure out in the spring. This stuff is so fiberous that if one got on the plow point, it wouldn't cut through it sinking into the ground. And the plants were too big to roll through the plow, just plugged it up. And being a thistle, the spikes of one plant would grab on to the next plant, making a bigger mess.

So my thoughts are to run through the standing part with the haybine next spring. At least they will be cut off in rows. Maybe they will dry out and the haybine will crush them. If not, might burn in the rows or run through the old baler to burn in the pit. As for the other part of the field, might have to weld some tines on the loader bucket and run around pushing them into piles to burn. Don't know, we've never had this problem and the other farmers in the area haven't either. But nobody let their fields go and see what the result were.

ny ideas? Looks like I'll have to burn this garbage before getting 1/2 the field ready. And the plants are spaced just enough there would be no way of burning it all off. Bare ground other then the "tumbleweeds".

Let then dry down then brush hog them. They shatter easy when they dry out.Then plow them down and and plant whatever. We took over a 400 acre place that was planted to chili and abandoned. Was covered armpit deep in Russian thisle, could not be plowed. That is what finally worked,put it into alfalfa with a barley cover crop. This was in New Mexico where the ground never freezes so your condition would be some different John
 
In my area of Northeast Utah we have Russian knappweed and Russian Olive trees. The Russian Olives have destroyed tens of thousands of
acres of good farmland. The olives are worthless for consumption. The trees are FULL of thorns that get into tractor tires and ruin
them. They can also cause blood poisoning if you get poked deeply with the thorns. The government brought them in back in the 30's to
serve as windbreaks. The government also brought in the Chinese Ringneck Pheasant to help spread the seeds. The pheasants are almost
gone now thanks to the exploding raccoon population. When I was a kid we had lots of pheasants and no raccoons. I could count on
seeing pheasants any place on the farm almost daily. It's been about 6 months now since I last saw a pheasant.

If you have any Russian Olive trees on your property destroy them before they destroy your farm. Pile them and burn them. Use a
bulldozer to pile them. Kill the roots. Don't burn them in your woodstove. They smell like someone ------ on the stove.
 

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