Tips to Control Weeds in Grazing and Pasture Lands

By Blake Jackson

While having diverse pastures is beneficial, weeds present several challenges for livestock producers. They often outcompete desirable forage plants, are lower in nutritional value particularly in crude protein and digestibility as they mature and some can be toxic to livestock if other feed options are scarce.

Certain weeds are unpalatable due to thorns, bristles, or hairy stems, and when livestock avoid them, it allows these weeds to spread. Determining the most economical time for weed control can be difficult, as there are no strict thresholds for weed density.

Understanding weed life cycles is essential for effective management. Weeds can be annual, biennial, or perennial. Annuals complete their life cycle in one year, producing seeds before dying lambsquarters is a summer annual, while chickweed is a winter annual that survives the cold and seeds in spring.

Biennials, like common burdock, take two years to complete their cycle, growing vegetatively in the first year and flowering the next. Perennials, such as dandelions, live longer than two years and flower annually. Some weeds reproduce through tubers, bulbs, rhizomes, or stolons, not just seeds.

An integrated approach works best for control. Start with soil fertility and pH management, ensuring healthy pasture plants that can outcompete weeds. Mowing or clipping after grazing but before seed production helps manage weeds like wild carrot or burdock. Overseeding or frost seeding fills bare spots with legumes, improving pasture health and nitrogen levels.

Pasture rotation allows recovery and prevents overgrazing, while biological controls, such as host-specific insects, diseases, or alternative livestock like goats, can target weeds that cattle avoid. Chemical control is an option, typically targeting broadleaf weeds, but may harm legumes.

Herbicides like 2,4-D work best when applied to seedlings (annuals), pre-flowering (biennials), or early bud stage (perennials), with weather and soil conditions affecting effectiveness.

Overall, maintaining healthy pastures, rotating grazing, clipping, fertilizing, and using herbicides strategically provides the most sustainable weed management solution.

Photo Credit: gettyimages-jacqueline-nix