Ques for you hay farmers

[NationalMatch]

This spring, what will you use to kill weeds? Prices are up and hay farming for the sake of hay farming yields diminishing returns.

 

[Roy14]

What kind of weeds are you dealing with, and in what kind of grass? If you inoculate your place with the correct type of fungus and bacteria it will shut down all invasive annual growth. Arrow leaf clover also does a good job choking out weeds and makes a good option for haying.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

We went to the county extension office, had a soil sample tested, and they gave us a recommendation for a fertilizer. That's what we're gonna put down next year...but we only hay about 8 or 9 acres. It produces pretty good even without any fertilizer. We don't have much problem with weeds.

 

[NationalMatch]

What kind of weeds are you dealing with, and in what kind of grass? If you inoculate your place with the correct type of fungus and bacteria it will shut down all invasive annual growth. Arrow leaf clover also does a good job choking out weeds and makes a good option for haying.

Bermuda grass for hay. Johnson grass for weeds. Re arrowleaf clover:

Clover can smother it out because it spreads fast and weeds can’t grow where there is no room.
But it doesn’t necessarily prevent them. The best prevention is more grass, just like the clover can’t grow where there is no room.

Re the above: would overseeding my Bermuda grass smother out the weeds?

 

[2busy]

My experience with arrow leaf clover is you don't want it. It will outgrow everything and will be a big ball of stems when the weather gets hot. Johnson grass will still grow when the weather gets hot and the clover shuts down. Bermuda grass can't out compete either one.

 

[NationalMatch]

Bermuda grass can't out compete either one.

Thank you. In your opinion, for Oklahoma soil/weather, is there any useful hay strain that a) will successfully choke out johnson grass and b) be compatible with Bermuda grass?

 

[2busy]

Thank you. In your opinion, for Oklahoma soil/weather, is there any useful hay strain that a) will successfully choke out johnson grass and b) be compatible with Bermuda grass?

Not that I know of. You'd probably be better off asking osu extension agent.

 

[NationalMatch]

Not that I know of. You'd probably be better off asking osu extension agent.

Assuming the agent would concur with you, then the alternative is weed killer? To spray in the spring?

 

[Roy14]

Clover’s growth cycle is earlier than bermuda, which doesn’t get going until we see warmer weather. You can likely bale the clover off before the bermuda gets going, eliminating an issue of the clover choking out your bermuda. It also is a nitrogen fixer so it’s sort of like a free fertilizer for your place. If it ever do decide you need rid of it, spraying it will quickly kill it off, much quicker than spraying for your Johnson grass issue (but you’d be treating both, so it’s a simple answer).

If you were not haying the field (or grazing, they accomplish the same goal here) then clover would not be a good choice because it does ball up and choke out grasses like bermuda over time. The key is harvesting it off before your bermuda comes on.

 

[2busy]

The problem with baling clover is the stem. Unless you have a crimper to crack the stems the leaves will dry up and fall off before the stem gets dry enough. You will have a bale of tough stems. Grandfather fought it for years trying to bale it.

Clover will mature before the nights get warm to help the curing. Arrow leaf clover gets big and tall and can be difficult to see where you have cut with a hay mower especially if it is a small area. It takes a little while to wilt and fall . You'll have to go by tractor tracks to see where you've been.

If you wait for other grasses to make hay the clover is big and tough. It'll intertwine together and makes a clover rope.