Lb94 - 7/29/2024 13:52

If chemical for spraying costs $15/acre and let's say between fuel and wear/tear on tractor and sprayer let's say $5/ acre, then it would have to benefit the pasture to grow an additional 333 lb. of drymatter per acre to breakeven if we figure the equivalent purchased forage is around $120/ton DM. I don't think a few sprigs of ironweed, milk weed and thistle are hurting the grass enough for that.

There's definitely benefits of having a lot of different plants in a pasture and I think there's benefits in not clipping the stems off a pasture as well in this part of the country. When you rotational graze the cows do a better job knocking the stems over anyway so by this time of year not much stem left on this grazing pass. They always say the more plant growth above the ground encourages more root depth below the ground so i can't see how keeping pastures mowed down is beneficial in the summer time when we can have hot dry weather and sometimes a few dry spells of no rain.