I agree, especially since he started with the nonsense about needing to convert the field to corn. At best, that was some kind of test to see if you would challenge him and he really did just weed your pastures. If after a few weeks you still have grass then I might consider sending a check for the chemicals he used, along with a letter from a lawyer to keep off, in the interest of not making a permanent enemy.
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I can somewhat see where he might be coming from. I don’t know where you are. Down South hay is bermuda, fescue or bahia. When you get these fields producing - the grass is pretty permanent barring disasters. Move farther north and people are growing timothy and orchard grass and some fescue. Timothy can be a once and done crop for a lot of hay farmers. Orchard grass is more persistent but frequently peters out after a few years and needs to be plowed up and the whole field replanted. So he may be saying that the field is petering out in more desirable grasses and crab grass is taking over. I have gotten some OG with crab grass in it. One batch the horses liked the other batch they would not eat at all.
So it isn’t unusual to kill everything off and row crop it for a year or two and then completely replant. That may be what he meant. If he had planned to row crop it in corn he would have to nuke the field with Roundup or something else that would kill everything. A broad leaf herbicide would still leave the unwanted grass. So I am ASSuming he was going to get one more hay crop ( complete with crab grass) and thus the broad leaf herbicide.
I would want to know what he sprayed. It would make sense to spray herbicide and fertilizer in one pass, especially with diesel cost. And you wouldn’t want to fertilize the weeds. But the "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead " when he saw the field marked off - that makes no sense or he already got the stuff and planned on using it no matter what. I would like to find out what he was thinking but he doesn’t sound like somebody I would want to deal with going forward.
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If he drove over and had the stuff mixed, he was going to waste it, so just went on and sprayed it, the heck with what he had to run over to do it.
Some people are like that.
Talking with the extension agent or better the Farm Service Agency may give you more ideas where you are, where he is, he has to keep a log of what he sprays, they may be able to help you find what he sprayed.
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COrn? COrn is very nutrient-dependent. NOT what you would plant to “rest” a hay field.
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If, worst case scenario, he sprayed herbicide to kill the grass (to plant “corn”)… be sure you take photos of your field now to show the healthy grass. I might contact a lawyer just to set up a record…
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That is what the OP said; corn. I wonder if the farmer is expecting corn prices to be better than the hay prices for the next few years, and so is planning to use the land for that instead. That it was a very subtle feeling out of which owners would object and which ones he thought he could bully into it. He might have come in thinking that if he ruined the work and got the stuff on the field he would have more legal ground to execute the defunct contract.
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Honestly this is what I wondered as more came out about him having multiple squabbles.
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some people just are disagreeable…
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Before jumping to conclusions just try to have a conversation with him. If he can hay your 4 acres this year that’ll be better than a feud. 2-4d is sprayed around here for broadleaf control. Not much helps with crabgrass short of roundup.
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I wouldn’t reimburse him for the fertilizer nor would I allow him to utilize the four acres for, well, anything. I wouldn’t want him anywhere near my property as he clearly has issues with boundaries, literally and figuratively.
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my stepfather had similar problems, he had bought his dream retirement farm, after multiple encounters with the locals he sold the place…the hassles were not worth the constant infringements
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Sounds like the OP has things in hand. I use an Amine, on my pastures. Recommendations are not to put livestock on it for ten days, I try to time it so it rains within 36 hours to speed that up. I’m high and dry, no waterways nearby. In fact, I’m chair of my Conservation District working out of our MDARD office, and my farm is environmentally certified with the state of Michigan.
Regardless of why the fool did what he did, he at the very least trespassed and destroyed construction flagging and stakes. That’s just bizarre. Let HIM get a lawyer if he wants.
@StormyDay, sorry this happened. As long as he didn’t kill your pasture grass, I expect it will be a few weeks before your horses get there, and you’ve had rain, everything should be fine.
Just 'cause folks are farmers doesn’t make them all good guys.
It sounds like you’ll just be another person in the community who has a bad story to tell about this one.
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Round Up is NOT 2, 4-D. Crossbow is a brand name of 2, 4-D. Round Up is glyphosate and designed to kill everything.
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@Tarlo_Farm you may want to double check that. Round Up is a glycophosphate and kills almost everything, grass included. I’ve never used 2,4D, but I’ve used Milestone which does not kill grass. Does a good job on buttercups though!
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Right, both different products, can be used together, but each one works differently and not always on the same plant species.
There have been glyphosate, Roundup ready plants forever and later now 24D ready plants also, that farmers can spray for weeds without killing the crop being raised.
No telling what if any was used there.
That should be the first to be found out in this mess, so as to make plans what next.
If that farmer is not answering OP, she may have to find someone to help her, ways to test samples, how to proceed in this situation.
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Oops, sorry, yes Crossbow is the pure glyphosate. However, “Roundup Ready” crops are not killed by Roundup, and my Amines contain a percentage of 2,4-D.
There are something like 1000 herbicides on the market that contain some 2,4-D without the chemical notorious for defoliating Viet Nam (name is escaping me right now)
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I am in the process of spraying my pastures with 2,4-D right now. Pretty common practice for maintaining pastures and hay fields. An application early in spring, followed by fertilizer is best practice.
This year we’re just doing the 2, 4-D because fertilizer is prohibitively expensive.
NO, 2,4-D is NOT glyphosate or Round Up.
You do need to time the application. Recommendation is not to graze over it for 10 days, that can be shorter if there’s rainfall, but rainfall immediately after application diminishes effectiveness.
The OP said it SMELLED like 2,4-D. It has a very distinctive smell. So I don’t think there’s a lot of need for testing.
Here’s the other thing - no matter how egregious the farmer’s behavior was, the OP will reap some benefit from having the 2,4-D sprayed on her paddocks. Obviously not on where her arena is planned, but eliminating broadlife weeds and then mowing frequently in the growing season will go a long way to improve the pasture.
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No.
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You may be thinking of Agent Orange, that was a mixture of different herbicides and was mixed haphazardly by soldiers to defoliate Vietnam forest to gain a military advantage with their air power.
The chemicals used in the mix were not the problem, 245-T, an example of one of them, was used long before by highways and electric highllines maintenance crews to keep their right of way clear of vegetation, was used for mesquite control in the SW, an invasive plant.
Used properly, as tested and approved, those chemicals were safe.
Used as they were used in Vietnam and the rare careless person, misuse, that is what any we may use can do harm.
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Crossbow is a woody herbicide, but not a glyphosate? Another ester?
