Need advice for my field please

[Laur]

Last September I took on a 3 acre field for my 2 horses. There were horses in it for 10 years before I took it on but there was approximately a 3 month gap until I moved mine in that the field was empty. I noticed there was a lot of weeds there but the grass was very good. We dug up several ragwort plants when we got there as they are obviously dangerous to horses but there seemed to be a variety of weeds throughout the field. They died down over the winter and horses did very well off the grass (they had ad lib haylage too and even my TB was looking great living out all winter). However now spring has arrived we are inundated with weeds, we spent several hours yesterday and dug up approximately 50 ragwort plants.

We have sectioned a small amount of the field off and sprayed the weeds with Roundup but this has killed the grass as well and not all of the weeds have gone. So not sure if that was a really great idea as there are large patches of dead grass now. Is there another weedkiller that we can use that does not kill the grass and also what is the best way of doing it as we bought 2 roundup bottles and used them pretty quickly so its gonna work out very expensive. I have been told fertilising the field will push out the weeds as the grass grows better but im really confused as what to do first. How do you all manage your fields?

Would really appreciate advice on this as im a newbie to this whole field management thing!!

 

[CHH]

Hi,

There are many different chemicals available that can target certain species.

Ragwort is extremely difficult to totally remove. I think it's called 'POLO' that treats it well.

Generally pasture that has been over grazed or under managed can be more 'weed' than grass.

Roundup is systemic, it will kill everything it comes into contact with, and I imagine you are buying it retail from the garden centre. So yes, it is going to be very expensive.


My husband farms, we produce hay/haylage amongst other things, and grazing our own horses.

This year with the weather the slower to develop grasses have been under stress, giving rise to the quicker growing weeds able to maximise the areas.
Have you noticed just how many dandilions have been around too?

Thistle and ragwort too.


Is there a local farmer/contractor you could contact to come and spray for you, are you able to keep the horses fully away from any areas?

Spraying will be weather dependent as well, depending on the type used. Sorry I can't go into the detail, it's my hubby who really knows his stuff.

But my thoughts, are that if it's bad, and you don't have equipment yourself, the cheapest option is to find local farmer/contractor who can help you.

Pulling ragwort is brilliant, but with 3 acres you could be literally all summer as it's aggressive, and once you get to the other end of the field, it will appear back again at the start!!!
I hope this helps in some small way.

 

[Laur]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

We were fortunate to buy the roundup for half price but it still worked out around £35 and we have only done a small chunk so its just not going to be cost effective to continue with that method. We have noticed a lot of dandelions and buttercups although at the minute we are lucky not to have too many thistles.

We were thinking of asking the local farmer to come and spray it for us but we dont know what needs to be sprayed on it! I know some people spread fertiliser but we need to get rid of the weeds as well so may need some sort of herbicide?! Its no problem to section the field off with electric fencing so they would be stuck in the top part. There seems to be fewer weeds at the top too so this is the only way it would work really. We havent got an alternative field to put them in so have to make do with what we have.
We were joking about the ragwort last night it seemed as if it was sprouting as we were going around we were always missing them. Its endless!

 

[L&M]

'Barrier H' is fantastic for ragwort and can also be used on other weeds and won't kill the grass. It comes as a spot spray and you need to leave the horses off for 2 weeks after spraying.

 

[jrp204]

Give your local ag. merchant a ring, they will have an agronomist who will come out and look at your field. It may well need testing for pH, buttercups are an indicator of low pH so some lime may be a good investment, this is worth doing before anything else. The agronomist will recommend the sprays you need, if you want to not kill the clover the spray will increase in price quite considerably.

 

[Laur]

Thanks for your replies, I will give the agricultural merchants a ring see what they have to say.

 

[BBH]

I have a similar problem to yours OP and I have been advised to use Headland Polo to clear all but the grass. My problem is compounded by being next to a motorway where the highways / council don't clear ragwort so no matter how many times I clear / spray it it only comes back again.

I have then been advised to rest the paddock so more grass comes up thus leaving little room for the weeds to flourish. I am lucky in that I can put the horses elsewhere but in your case you could do as you're doing and do sections as a time.