Crossbow? Wait for grazing?

[tpup]

We are planning on using Crossbow on our pastures, about 10 days prior to our 3 horses coming home. The Crossbow “claims” no grazing restrictions at ALL. The only warnings are regarding haying your fields, or lactating dairy cows. It STILL makes me nervous.

We are trying to kill VA creeper, thorny stuff, dandelions and various other weeds. I used Pasture Pro on one small area of thornbushes (we had bushhogged, and then hit the low stems hard with Pasture Pro - it seems to have worked!)

Even with a 10 day gap, the Crossbow still makes me nervous. Any Crossbow users out there, and any issues with not waiting long for the horses to be on the pasture? Or should I just be safe and do Pasture Pro - our local Southern States said it may not work nearly as well though, for things like the VA Creeper.

[tucktaway]

I’m with you on their “claims of no restrictions.” I generally wait 2 weeks for grazing after using fertilizer or Crossbow, depending on the amount of rainfall. The Crossbow works quickly and is very effective. I don’t spray the entire paddock, just the areas that are really weedy, buttercups mostly. I have no more data than you, but assuming there was some rainfall, I would be comfortable with 10 days…
Would be curious to hear others’ opinions!

[tpup]

Thanks tucktaway. Everywhere I research it confirms no grazing restrictions. Hoping others will chime in! I’m going to call our local Ag Ext office to be safe as well.

[Flash44]

I use it with no problems. I do wait a few days before grazing, though, just to make sure that the plants it is going to kill are visibly dying and look unappetizing to munch on.

[Calvincrowe]

I generally wait about 2 days–for the plants that we hit to look “wilted”, but my horses don’t eat blackberry and buttercup, so they are pretty safe.

OP-are you spraying everything-like from a towed sprayer? We usually just spot spray.

[khall]

I have used different chemicals that have no grazing restrictions without any issues. Have talked with extension agent about them as well, he agrees no problems. I do wait until it is dry and I do not put it out on pasture that my lactating mare is on. I spray the entire fields usually in April. This year was May. I did wait a week for fertilizer/lime and rain on pasture. Though again according to ag extension agent it is fine to put them out, but the people who spread it for me asked me to hold off putting horses out. I have 2 10 acre pastures and a 2 acre pasture and a small paddock that we deal with annually. One of the best methods for weed control though is healthy fertilized grass that is mowed regularly. Which we try to do religiously (last year was a bear with it being so wet, one field sat all summer, no grazing, no bush hogging).

[gladheart]

I use Crossbow as a spot treatment for blackberry control. I don’t apply it as broadcast treatment because it kills legumes. Although there are no grazing restrictions for horses, I generally wait a week before returning animals to the treated area, especially (like khall does) in the case of lactating mares. I recall that years ago we were cautioned that although 2,4 D and most other phenoxy herbicides were essentially non-toxic to animals, they could cause problems by increasing the palatability of some poisonous plants.

[danieljustin]

[h=2]I am using SWHACKER SET OF 3 CROSSBOW 100 GRAIN 1.75 INCH CUT BROADHEAD[/h]

[Palm_Beach]

@tpup

We are planning on using Crossbow on our pastures, about 10 days prior to our 3 horses coming home. The Crossbow “claims” no grazing restrictions at ALL. The only warnings are regarding haying your fields, or lactating dairy cows. It STILL makes me nervous.

We are trying to kill VA creeper, thorny stuff, dandelions and various other weeds. I used Pasture Pro on one small area of thornbushes (we had bushhogged, and then hit the low stems hard with Pasture Pro - it seems to have worked!)

Even with a 10 day gap, the Crossbow still makes me nervous. Any Crossbow users out there, and any issues with not waiting long for the horses to be on the pasture? Or should I just be safe and do Pasture Pro - our local Southern States said it may not work nearly as well though, for things like the VA Creeper.

If it says NO GRAZING RESTRICTIONS then there are no grazing restrictions. I’ve been using it for years, mainly for buttercups, which it works well on. Just follow the instructions.

[Guilherme]

The label directions on ANY agricultural chemical that is Federally approved are there because they have been verified in a licensing process. Are they Holy Writ, guaranteed by God to be accurate? Not just “no” but HELL NO! Still, unless someone has PROOF that the claims are invalid then what is the alternative to taking them at face value? Indeed, if there are problems there is an entire system of reporting to collect and verify that problems exist…or don’t.

This isn’t like going to Madam Ruth where Love Potion Number 9 has absolutely no guarantee of safety or efficacy or even that what’s on the label is in the bottle. That world is fundamentally unregulated and it spends HUGE amounts every year with legislators and MadAve to keep it that way. Don’t confuse the two.

I’ve used Crossbow and followed the label directions without issue. Ditto for lots of other chemicals as well. Do that and you’ll likely have no issues.

G.

[jherold]

I usually wait a day or two, but no problems and last year I sprayed all my fields due to the creaping charlie. It worked very well.

[Moderator_1]

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