Anybody else has yellow foxtail in their pasture this time a year?

[Lieslot]

All spring & summer long I had a lovely green & lush pasture, which was virtually weedfree. But this is the 2nd year that towards end of Aug, beginning of Sept I noticed pockets of yellow foxtail propping up.

I wonder if this is as a result of having had a season of grasshay that had quite an amount of yellow foxtail, which I was very unhappy about, but struggled through it.

I keep mowing the pastures, hoping to deal with it this way, but I actually noticed the horses quite happily eating it.

What would you do about it, agressively treat it with 2,4D, assuming this kills yellow foxtail, or just let it be & keep mowing.
Anybody else having this nuissance grass in their pastures?

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=Lieslot;5057121]

What would you do about it, agressively treat it with 2,4D, assuming this kills yellow foxtail, or just let it be & keep mowing.
Anybody else having this nuissance grass in their pastures? :([/QUOTE]

fyi nothing kills it…you can mow and supress it but eventually you’ll need to break out the roundup and reseed

Tamara in TN

[Lieslot]

OH no, that sounds like a nightmare in the making… :eek:.
Perhaps I should tackle those areas immediately with Round-up, to prevent it spreading further.

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=Lieslot;5057300]
OH no, that sounds like a nightmare in the making… :eek:.
Perhaps I should tackle those areas immediately with Round-up, to prevent it spreading further.[/QUOTE]

be warned they are there because there was no other grass to suppress them…make sure you always have a fill in grass for the summers and you can avoid foxtail longer

Tamara in TN

[Lieslot]

But the weird thing is, there’s even some that popped up in my front lawn, where I have a very thick fescue type of lawn grass, so there were surely no empty spots there and had not been grazed on :(.

I also noticed it in the lawn of my neigbor across the road recently.

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=Lieslot;5057369]
But the weird thing is, there’s even some that popped up in my front lawn, where I have a very thick fescue type of lawn grass, so there were surely no empty spots there and had not been grazed on :(.

I also noticed it in the lawn of my neigbor across the road recently.[/QUOTE]

foxtail as a tiny plant is not distinguishable from fescue by your average person…
only once the heads pop up do you realize what has happened

Tamara in TN

[Concordia]

Can you post a picture of this?

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=Concordia;5057529]
Can you post a picture of this?[/QUOTE]

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.math.iupui.edu/~mmisiure/kwiaty/foxtail.jpg&imgrefurl=http://picsdigger.com/keyword/foxtail/&h=480&w=640&sz=71&tbnid=XZiH1NGlevlwEM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfoxtail%2Bphotos&zoom=1&usg=__KhJSIGJV0AvsIm9y9PvQiEDftkE=&sa=X&ei=PxZ3TP-GDoPGlQean7TwCg&ved=0CBgQ9QEwAQ

more than one person has told me that it was timothy;):lol:

Tamara in TN

[reubenT]

Well, if the horses think it’s edible, what’s wrong with it? I know, if the seed heads are eaten by them in concentration they could impact in their gut. But that’s only a risk if they’re munching on not much else but fuzzy seed heads, a few mixed up with everything else they’re eating won’t be a problem.

Oh by the way, roundup is a very dangerous toxic chemical. the money it makes the company keeps it on the market as well as the convenience of dead weeds. Independent testing shows very different and much more sinister results than the company sponsored testing the the FDA goes by. (When you get into behind the scenes hidden info, it’s obvious the FDA and the big corporate interests are tied together)
I do not consider my farm organic but I won’t let that stuff get anywhere near me if I can help it.

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE]

[QUOTE=reubenT;5057581]
Well, if the horses think it’s edible, what’s wrong with it? I know, if the seed heads are eaten by them in concentration they could impact in their gut. But that’s only a risk if they’re munching on not much else but fuzzy seed heads, a few mixed up with everything else they’re eating won’t be a problem.[/QUOTE

you really don’t understand foxtail do you ? it becomes embedded in the mouth and gums of the horses

genius…
Tamara in TN

[rodawn]

Yes, it is not a nice plant to have around. If it makes it past the mouth, it could very likely get imbedded into their esophagus causing incessant coughing and irritation. Tackle it right away. Nasty stuff.

Similar hooked barbs on it to barley straw, which is why you shouldn’t bed horses in barley in case they eat it. Same reasons - the barbs get imbedded in their gums, tongue and throat.

[GallopHer]

It is the blade of the grass that is so problematic or the "foxtail’ seed heads? I’m unfamiliar with this weed.

[KSAQHA]

I have a few patches of it in one section of my pasture…and this thread is reminding me to get out and mow instead of hanging around here.

Anyhoo, my horses don’t touch the heads (making it all the more noticeable). I suppose if they had absolutely nothing else to graze…maybe. I certainly don’t panic over fact it’s there for the moment.

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=GallopHer;5063024]
It is the blade of the grass that is so problematic or the "foxtail’ seed heads? I’m unfamiliar with this weed.[/QUOTE]

just the seed heads…you can keep them tiny in a pasture situation…not so much in hay fields

Tamara in TN

[PaddockWood]

I’ve noticed a foxtail problem in my grass turnouts the last couple years but this year thought (naively) maybe it was gone because I wasn’t seeing it this year. I’m also 40% clover and working to choke it out by having the grass higher. Waiting on soil test results (last done in 2021) to fertilize and add more seed hopefully before end of Sept.

The foxtail grew quickly and is quite tall. Do I mow it (it’s on ave 15" high) and keep the horses off the field where it’s the worst so they don’t ingest it or leave it tall and count on them not grazing it? I do need to rotate to the field where it’s the worst - unless you all were to say no way. They are not grazing it that I can see and there is plenty of grass with no foxtail.

While we had a goal of not spraying our pastures the past 10 yrs since establishing I can now see we will need to spray Prowl in the spring. We have spent 10 yrs testing and adding amendments and until the last couple years all was well.

[jherold]

I just got in from wacking it down. I tried killing it last year but I don’t know of a selective herbicide that works on it so I used a weed and grass killer. They came up in the same spots again this year. My hope is that by wacking it at least it won’t spread.

[Lieslot]

We used Pasture Pro double concentration in one field earlier in the year and so far so good, no yellow foxtail in that one.
We did Pasture Pro in the other paddock but over a year ago and whilst last year no foxtail, this year it’s back. I plan to do another Pasture Pro there, but only next year. For now I’ll just keep mowing it short. My horses don’t seem to eat it.
They do eat it when it’s in baled hay however.
It’s a nuissance weed, one hard to fully eradicate. Here in NJ, just about any farm has it. Hay growers struggle with it too this time a year.
It only starts popping up late August, beginning of September.

[PaddockWood]

I think it depends on the stage of the seed heads? You left it on the ground? And are your horses turned out on it? If so, I’m curious to have you report back if they get oral sores. I’m planning to mow mine tomorrow night. THanks for your response!

[PaddockWood]

That’s good to know. Thanks for sharing!

[jherold]

They are knee deep in good grass so they won’t eat it. I may truly the pasture pro. Thanks for the tip.