new weed

new weed in the pasture..what is it called? cattle won't eat it.

Almost looks like knap weed,but it don't bloom till about august here in montana.If that's what it is you need to get rid of it ASAP.Ron

I notice a lot of that getting a good foothold around here also.....

No worry the goats will take care of it once they run out of thistles to eat.

It's called spotted knapweed or Russian knapweed. It flourishes in poor soils with little other competition and seeds heavily. It's a perennial and it isn't real easy to kill with herbicide but digging it out does kill the parent. If it has seed pods already, dig the plant and burn it. Watch the area where you found one for a few years as there may be seeds ready to sprout next year. I blame the birds for spreading it.

(quoted from post at 22:08:04 04/09/18) Almost looks like knap weed,but it don't bloom till about august here in montana.If that's what it is you need to get rid of it ASAP.Ron

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I'd agree, major problem here in WA also. I have made a lot of $$ brush hogging it as the county weed board will cite you if you do not control it. It takes 3 yrs spraying with 24-d to kill it. Last year I saw a fellow cutting and baling a heavily infested field...so did some research and found that it does have some feed value for stock cows. Google 'spotted knapweed' for tons of info.

That is interesting as I thought Knapweed was toxic to livestock.
Maybe it is just horses and not so much for cows or just the Russian variety.
It is considered toxic by neglect though as horses will only eat it if put on a small pasture with limited feed.



Managing Russian Knapweed

Spotted Knapweed is on the invasive weed list and usually grows in poor soil. Like in parking lots and gravel pits (well drained and lack of top soil) Here in Michigan it makes up one of the best commercial honey flows there is, the bees love it and makes a great water white honey (clear) You will not find a bee keeper that wants to see this weed go away.

(quoted from post at 07:57:59 04/10/18) Spotted Knapweed is on the invasive weed list and usually grows in poor soil. Like in parking lots and gravel pits (well drained and lack of top soil) Here in Michigan it makes up one of the best commercial honey flows there is, the bees love it and makes a great water white honey (clear) You will not find a bee keeper that wants to see this weed go away.

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Yes, I have been told bee keepers do not like me as I try to cut it just as it starts to bloom.

Google "spotted knapweed honey" and you will see how the states are trying to get rid of this weed. And how the bee keepers are wanting to keep it. Knapweed is a nonnative plant feeding a nonnative honey bee. Myself I would plant the seed if it was available. Just trying to make a living farming honey bees.

Grew up in western Montana, knapweed is thick out there. The only control of it is spraying or irrigation. It doesn't like too much water and that was really the only way to keep it out of the hay fields. Eventually it would take over the alfalfa since we didn't irrigate and Dad would plow it under to start over. He figured out it was more profitable to just plant oats yearly for hay over the cost of alfalfa seed every 4-5 years.

We moved from Minnesota so Dad thought he could mow the road ditches for free hay out there. Nope, not worth it after we did it a couple seasons. Too much knapweed mixed in with the native grass. The horses and cows would pick through the hay and push aside the knapweed. Had to fork it out of the bunks every day before feeding.

The stems dry slowly and you can tell immediately if there is much knapweed in the bale, super heavy. Also it tastes very bitter, the dust while baling would taste bad. Once you taste it or smell it, you won't forget it.

I never heard of bee keepers being happy with knapweed but was never around one to know. You'd think bees would do well out there, plenty of knapweed for them.

And it grows in pastures with NON native cows grazing in them(LOL)

With a title like New Weed, I'm surprised you didn't get 400 comments from folks in Colorado, Washington State and all the other places that legalized the stuff. Looking for their next trip to nowhere.