Grazing management...buttercup problem!

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Miramis

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Need a bit of advice about managing my horses grazing. I have 4 horses and 3 fairly decent sized paddocks.

Where there is grass the grazing is good but the buttercups are steadily taking over (i realise they are toxic). What is the best way to deal with them? I have access to a flail mower so i can top the fields. Will i need to treat them with a weed killer also and if so what is safe to use around the horses??

Another Q is after topping the fields do the horses need to be removed from the field or is it safe to leave them in there? I have started rotating the grazing. Anything else i can do to improve the pasture?

Just the odd buttercup :-((
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Cheers, Ang x
 
Ask a local farmer, they usually know what to use and may even do it for you. I keep mine off for two weeks, it is best to get them sprayed before they flower so much tho.
 
Buttercups are a common sign of low ph, may be worth getting it tested, if it is low it can easily be sorted by spreading lime. Your local ag merchant should know someone who can test it for you.
 
We've had ours limed, and we are on limestone anyway, but I think it is a really bad year for buttercups. We have resorted to killing them with roundup using a back pack. Did this last year too and the patches haven't grown back too much, and the grass has been able to re-establish. The only other way is with MCPA but I think you have to do this before they flower.
GOD I HATE BUTTERCUPS
 
Butter cups are every where this year as are dandy lions the hard winter caused it. Where you have horses you will normally get buttercups on limited grazing. Afraid the only way to get rid of them is to spray. There are various chemicals on the market i use agronomox [i think that is the name]. Usually keep them off the paddock
for 2 to 3 weeks and if it is done correctly you will be free of buttercups for 2 to 3 years.
 
Ask your local farmer. We got 6 acres done for #80 (sorry, no pounds sign on this keyboard!) and it was the best thing we did. Killed them totally for that year and the next year the crop was minimal.

It's nigh on impossible to eradicate them entirely but getting the fields sprayed yearly will make such a difference.

Any chemical spray you use will mean two weeks off the field afterwards.
 
Thanks for all the replys, it looks like i need to spray my fields! I have found a product called 'Headland Polo' which was mentioned to be very effective on a horsey thread i found on good old google :-)) Ive ordered some of it and my husband is going to hire a spray boom for our quad bike. Fingers crossed it will sort my 'golden' fields!


Can anyone answer my Q on topping? I wished to know if i need to keep the horses out the pasture for any time once its topped or are they ok to stay in it?

Cheers, Ang
 
You've been given some good advice on the buttercups.

As for topping, you don't really want the horses on there whilst you're doing it or immediately after as they could gorge on the cut grass which could induce colic.

Just out of interest, why are you topping? with hay and grass being in such short supply at the moment it seems a waste of good grass...
 
Get some sheep on your paddocks! They will eat them all. We had a few patches of buttercups on 25 acres, never had them before, but once we moved our sheep on to them they disappeared within a few days :) They must like them same goes for docks and clover too :)
 
CBFan said:
You've been given some good advice on the buttercups.

As for topping, you don't really want the horses on there whilst you're doing it or immediately after as they could gorge on the cut grass which could induce colic.

Just out of interest, why are you topping? with hay and grass being in such short supply at the moment it seems a waste of good grass...
Click to expand...


Im topping the grazing as i have area's that the horses havent grazed that are really long grass, weeds and then over grazed area's. I was told it would even up the pasture and encourage better grass growth.

Im ok for hay luckily enough thanks to the lovely farmer down the road from us ,so no worries on that front :-))
 
MCPA is good for some weeds, especially rushes (Reeds), whereas 2,4-D is good for broad leaved weeds, such as ragwort, buttercups, docks, dandylions. Highland Polo contains both, so is rather a waste if you are only trying to kill buttercups. My local ag merchant has stopped stocking Polo because farmers want to select the appropriate weedkiller, not a mixture. I mix my own weedkiller, depending on what I want to kill.

Sometimes buttercups are completely eradicated by just one application, but sometimes they largely survive. 2,4-D is a systemic weedkiller i.e. it is absorbed through the leaves and then needs to travel down to the roots to kill the plant. Therefore the weeds need to be growing actively for it to work. The spray needs to coat a large proportion of their leaf area, and the concentration must be correct. Too dilute,, and the weeds survive. If they don't go in about a month, I respray, treating the advice on the container as advice, not a command. I do wonder whether more established plants are somewhat resistant to 2,4-D, and do need a second application. I have not had any buttercups for years, but this year they invaded with a vengeance. Two applications, a month apart, have seen off all but a handful.

The usual caveats – Always STUDY, never mind read, the label, and use a contractor unless you are prepared to understand and follow all the instructions meticulously. As far as I am aware, you will need a Land Certificate to buy 2,4-D, and/or MCPA for use on your land.

There is some good information about 2,4-D and MCPA on Wikipedia.

Roundup, based on glyphosate, is a bit extreme for buttercups – it kills off virtually all vegetation.
 
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