Pasture weed control with various herbicide treatments and timings - ground or aerial drone applied
ISSN 2158-9429
Volume 16, Issue 2 - December 2023
Editor: Linda Chalker-Scott
Abstract
Pasture management is an annual process. Annual weeds like goatweed (Croton capitata) and false ragweed (Parthenium hysterophorus) are problematic for control. Many herbicide options fail to control the species due to lack of activity on the spurge family or incorrect timing of the herbicide application. To better understand the efficacy of various herbicide treatments and application timing, herbicide application demonstrations were initiated in north Fannin County and Van Zandt County on established bermudagrass pasture dominated by goatweed (Fannin) and false ragweed (Van Zandt) with minor populations of various other warm season weeds. Weed control ratings for herbicide treatments and a mowing treatment were collected monthly to determine the initial efficacy and season long control of weeds in the grazed pasture for the various treatments and timings. Herbicide efficacy on target weeds with all treatments, locations, timings, and application techniques was excellent (90% visual control or more), except for the mowing treatment at Fannin County, which resulted in initial weed knockdown on the day of application, but not long-term control (30% control 2 MAT). Mowing early in July did not provide acceptable control of the annual weed populations – some weeds survived the mowing operation, and additional weeds emerged due to the lack of vegetative cover or residual herbicide. Treatments in June and July provided similar efficacy on target weeds, even with the larger, more mature weed sizes. Aerial drone applications at 2 GPA total spray volumes (Van Zandt County) performed similarly to the conventional ground applications on the target weed populations.
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