broomweed,

I have @ 480 acres of family land here that was leased out for many years. It wound up being way overgrazed and the broom weed has taken over. Ive sort of fell into taking care of it so i get to deal with this mess. thinking of mowing this month and then hitting it hard in the early spring with some 2-4-D. anyone had to deal with this stuff that may know a better way? its nearly choked the grass completly out on what used to be a good pasture.

30 years ago I worked part time in Kansas for a flinthills Rancher who had fought broomweed all of his life, he always waited until late fall when it died to shred it close to the ground, in a dry winter there was very little spring growth but if the rains came he would burn it off in late March. He didn't like to spray because he didn't want to kill off the other ''good'' weeds.

thats kind of where I'm at also.I dont like to spray,but i may have to.Im thinking if i mow now,it may get a better kill because it might not come back and set seed this fall since its so dry. whats alredy bloomed this spring and set seed is what i was thinking i may have to spray for.Thanks.

Jack

Was wondering how you think the mowing did on the broomweed, if you were able to get it mowed. Did it bloom later, or between the mowing and drought, did the broomweed die?

In October, I looked at some native grass in Jefferson County that hadn't had cattle on it for a year, and the grass had hardly grown due to the drought. I just hope we get some rain soon to keep those grasses going.

i mowed about 200(@) acres mid to late august ,just as it started its fall blooming cycle . As far as I can tell none has came back on the part ive got mowed, and it really helped the drought starved grass.( but to be honest, with the lack of rain weve had i couldnt say how much i actually killed) blooming got ahead of me on the rest and i quit mowing ,but i intend to hit it early in the spring at the first sign of a bloom. thats the key i think,to mow it at the right time.once it blooms its pretty much over beacuse it already has seed far enough along to germinate. if you can catch it just before the bloom stage and mow it, it gives the grass time to help choke it out. it gets worse in the really dry years simply because the grass is thinner and it can get more seed to the ground. thats also what makes it particularly bad on overgrazed properties. once it gets established it simply soaks up so much water it becomes the dominant plant. Its easy to kill by spraying but you need to spray it about the same time you would mow,and do it twice a year. once it becomes really established it is no longer a annual weed like most folks think. its becomes perennial simply because it blooms and drops seed twice a year instead of once like a regular annual does. it doesnt drop seed and die,it drops seed and becomes dormant,then starts producing seed again when the fall rains start up again. btreaking one or the other (fall or spring) breaks the cycle and it doesnt produce the next years seed. but since it blooms twice you have fall and spring germinating seed. on this particular place, my intention is to leave a lot of the native weed that spraying would kill also. so mowing is how i decided to do. it takes longer generally costs more but its selective which is what i want in this case. i will get a head of the broomweed , then work on whatever other problems. as fro now its simply my biggest problem.

Hello Jack,I want to help with the broom weed. First let's make sure we are talking about the same plant,then we need to talk about your pasture land and soil moisture today and going foward. The weed I refer to is multi branched,woody with yellow flowers. To have a problem sever as you describe would normaly only occur in Southwest states only. That's a large place to treat based on information coming from a stranger but at least try a few acres.
As you are aware,rainfall has everything to do with growth and growth pattern dictates how well control results are. I reccomend 2-4-d or dicamba in early spring (late march to may in north texas and south oklahoma). If you got adiqute rain in nov and dec,the plant has germinated. If rains are light or delayed until april there will be a light stand and at that point spraying isn't very effective nor will the broom be a big problem. The new plant's thumbnail size & shape multiple leaves lie flat to the ground from march to may,at which piont the plant develops and grows very rapid. Once the plant starts multiple limbs it's past window for good herbicide control. In a year with ideal growing conditions,you can see every spot missed by sprayer 2 months later. With vigurous growth 1/2 Lb 2-4-D per acre does fine. Identifieing the juvenile plant rosete is key to treatment. If you have cereal grain the herbicide will have no effect on it other than eleminate compitition. Vetch,clover,lespadiza and other lagumes will be wipped out. There are other options such as overstocking with sheep in spring or tillage if your primary grass is bermuda and you have no winter grazing crops. Shoot me an email if you have questions.