I have an acre field that houses 7 goats and a mini pony. Last year the weeds really sprouted up especially buttercups. It was recommended to me to spray Grazon Next HL. My problem is no local store sells it and it’s $150 online shipped to me. Based on how much I need it’s also going to last forever for treating just an acre. Is there any other spray that’s less expensive that’s safe for grazing animals that might be available locally? Long term plan is to have the soil tested, amend as needed and overseed in fall.
Can you split it with a neighbor?
I have to split even my lawn chemicals with someone, as the jugs they sell are way-big for my .5a lot.
Does your local cooperative extension know of a source that might offer a size that works for your smaller needs?
I hired a local independent lawn spray company who would use their excess spray from the rich people’s lawns …cost was nominal since they needed a place to use the mixed chemicals,
However the most effective weed control for some of the most problematic weeds was to mow them, repeatedly especially before they could reseed afterwards spot treatments were needed
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Price on all herbicides has gone WAYYY up, so $150 for it does not sound bad.
For a small acre I would check with a landscape service or several, to see what they would charge.
Consider if you want to kill everything except grass or just trouble spots. Read the label on Grazeon, what does it hit? Is spraying more than once to get all the buttercup recommended? This is because you might need more than one visit per season from the landscape people.
I had our 10 acre hay field sprayed last fall. This after pricing how MUCH herbicide I needed to mix a spray that would work. I called a local AG service to price how much they would cost. I needed clover killed, it was taking over. The price for using them was cheaper than buying and doing it myself! Plus being a huge time saver with their bigger equipment.
They asked me a couple times, “Did I know spraying would kill everything except grass?” to make it clear and prevent my being suprised after. The guy came and applied the herbicide quickly. Big tractor, sprayer unfolded a couple time to gain width. He was in, spayed our narrow fields in short order, gone again. Took a couple weeks, but the clover browned up nicely, shriveled away. Hayfield looked quite nice. We will do some grass overseeing shortly to help things fill in.
Not sure what herbicide he used but it sure did the job well! I am very happy I went to the professionals. They have the needed special applicator training, low sprayer to prevent drift, I was not stuck with “leftover” herbicide to store. No fiddling with equipment, refills, using my small sprayer. He was careful around my field trees, nothing on them.
I was quite surprised at the lower (comparitively) cost for them to do it! Way less than I expected. Give the landscape folks a call, see what they would charge. No job too small! You might need to keep animals off a few days. I would, but ASK them about restrictions to grazing. They probably won’t be using Grazeon, Field might need rain or watering after being sprayed before grazing.
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I could try calling but it seems to be a manufacturing problem they just don’t sell smaller quantities. There is a smaller one gallon or quart size of the tractor supply pasturepro weed spray but idk the effectiveness of that versus Grazon.
Thanks for the recommendations and ideas. I’ve called around a few local guys who spray and the cost was at least a few hundred dollars so more expensive. I already have the spraying equipment and don’t mind putting the labor in. Part of the field is my septic drainfield so I don’t want really heavy equipment driving around we limit it to our smaller lawnmower.
I will not ever use a national lawn company, my husband worked for one of the big name ones and they were sketchy as hell. He got in trouble multiple times for not spraying the non grazing safe chemicals on animal pastures because he’s married to me and knows it could have been a major issue for the horses. He tipped off a few customers that what he was sent with wasn’t what they paid for. The company didn’t care and didn’t honor what the customer was paying for.
I want to kill everything except grass on about 50% of it where the weeds and buttercup is the worst. The other half I’m fine just spot spraying the clumps of weeds because I’d like to keep some clover.
I did mow like crazy last spring but even on the lowest possible setting of my mower I couldn’t get all the buttercup flowers and it darn near almost killed my grass trying to mow it away. The secondary problem was I was reducing about half of my grazing field to nothing and I really don’t want to rely on hay 24/7 I have the land to support the grazing if I let it grow a bit taller as the goats really prefer clover/taller grass. They do eat weeds but are leaving the ones I don’t want like thistle and buttercup.
2 thoughts -
1 - It has taken me 10 years of mowing and better pasture management to reduce the buttercups in my field. I have no chance in hell of ever getting rid of them because my neighbor’s field is innundated. But with regular mowing, I’ve knocked them back significantly and the horses don’t touch it because there is so much else to eat throughout the year.
2 - Remember that using Grazon will render your manure useless as compost for a lot of gardens. That isn’t an issue for everyone, but it is one of the reasons we don’t use it.
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A lot of the chemicals used on residential lawns are not safe for pasture.
Last year was the very first year I had buttercups which is why I’m hoping to get ahead of it and I did mow them down as much as possible but they were still there.
The compost isn’t a concern all of my manure gets spread into the field and dragged. I don’t have any interest in composting. The hay I buy is from fields sprayed with Grazon he is very clear to tell all of his customers that.
the application company is aware of the livestock and will not use chemicals that are harmful to them
https://extension.psu.edu/buttercup-control-spray-now-or-early-spring
Looks like you could try just 2,4-D - it’s usually widely available and comes in smaller quantities. Around here Tractor Supply and most feed stores carry it in quart size. Might not be quite as effective as the Grazon Next HL.
Otherwise Crossbow is also recommended, which is 2,4-D and triclopyr. It’s what I use on creeping charlie in my pastures.
Neither 2,4-D nor Crossbow have grazing restrictions for non-dairy animals.
Rutgers Fact Sheet Grazing Restrictions Pasture Herbicides
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Not the one my husband worked for. They would send him with unsafe lawn chemicals to spread on pastures with animals on them. He refused to do it and faced discipline at work. Local companies might be ok but the large national one he worked for wasn’t.
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I’ve not used Grazon personally so I can’t make a comparison. I just applied some Pasture Pro though. Killed every thing but the grass where I sprayed. Quickly too. I’m having tech diff with the sprayer or I would have done all my paddocks already!
Pasture Pro is 2,4-D
GrazonNext HL is 2,4-D plus aminopyralid.
Crossbow (from my comment above) is 2,4-D plus triclopyr.
Triclopyr is in the same “family” as aminopyralid.
Per the article I listed above the Pasture Pro/2,4-D alone would work, just maybe not as well.
Crossbow might be a bit more effective since it’s got something extra that may be similar to aminopyralid.
This is where I get my Crossbow and they sell quarts, not sure if they can ship to your state though. 
https://www.domyown.com/crossbow-specialty-herbicide-4d-triclopyr-p-4545.html
Note that anything that kills buttercups will also kill clover because they are both broadleaf! So you might have to wipe out the clover and then re-introduce it if your goats like it.
(I’m not a professional, I’ve just done a lot of research trying to kill creeping charlie. It can get confusing because there are generic names, common names, trade names, chemical families, different salts, etc. I usually wind up asking my chemist friends to translate for me!)
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Also I would soil test and check for soil compaction. You can kill the buttercups and broad leafed weeds but if that land is very acidic and/ or compacted, grass may not regrow there very well. I have one spot in my small paddock pasture that only grows weeds. Because it is the manure dump - always damp, compacted and I bet it needs lime. It will take a multi-pronged approach to fix your problem and keep it fixed.
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Manure dump - I mean the horses always poop there. I don’t dump manure on that spot.
Plain 2,4-D will kill some varieties of buttercup. I’d be inclined to try that first, as it is much cheaper. If it doesn’t work, go to the bigger guns next year.
Buttercups really like acidic, compacted, overgrazed soil with poor fertility. I’d pull a soil test and lime as indicated (I guarantee it will be needed, especially if you are spreading your manure on this paddock). If there is any way to subdivide the paddock for rotational grazing, you’ll have much better luck maintaining a healthy stand of forage. 1 acre isn’t much land to work with, even for goats and minis.
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I swore I would not spray my property with a chemical, but clover took over my pastures and I have been hand digging buttercups for eight years. I found a new product, DuraCor, that is safe for grazing animals.
My husband sprayed one part of our pasture last year and it worked great. I did keep the horses off that area for a few weeks just as a precaution. It is expensive and you use only a small amount, so maybe you could share it with somebody? Unfortunately, you can’t buy it locally.
Best price: https://www.forestrydistributing.com/duracor-herbicide-corteva
Our BO fertilized her hayfield, about 30 acres, annually, for years. When she limed it, no more weeds.
