Bur Clover

I had someone ask me today how to get rid of bur clover; also known as bur medic or by its scientific name medicago polymorpha, from their pasture because the soft burs get tangled up in their horses manes and tails. All I could think about was what a good thing having that much bur clover would be at my  house! I figure that is a small price to pay for all the good this legume does! 

The only down side to having legumes is the possibility of bloat in ruminant animals. Incidence of bloat can be minimized by grazing multiple species of forages and making sure animals are full when turned into pastures planted with legumes. Poloxalene blocks can also be put out to prevent bloat in ruminants. Horses are not susceptible to bloat, nonetheless it is a good idea to be sure they are full when turned out on pastures planted in bur clover to minimize the possibility of gastric upset.

Armadillo Bur Medic

Bur clover is a legume, and is in the same family as Alfalfa, and legumes use a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria, known as Rhizobium that allow them to convert atmospheric Nitrogen  for their own use. That ability actually gives legumes a very competitive advantage. Bur clover is a cool season seed producing annual that germinates in the Fall and produces most of its growth in mid to late Spring. On average it can leave 75 lbs of Nitrogen in the soil as plant residue and what is processed through grazing animals. Bur clover can reach 14-15% protein and 65% Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) so it is a high quality forage in your pasture mix.

Bur clover is a broadleaf plant and as such is highly susceptible to broadleaf weed killers like 2,4-D and Grazon Next. Pursuit and Treflan are both effective for weed control in bur clover, but will back them up for a period of time.

Here in south Texas Pogue Seed, www.pogueagri.com, has 2 varieties that work quite well. Armadillo Bur Medic is adapted for use on clay or loamy soils, while Devine Little Bur Medic is adapted for use on sandy soils that are slighly acidic.

Clover Planting
Clovers should be planted in a prepared (disked) seedbed from late September to late October. Land preparation is necessary for early clover plantings to remove competition from summer weeds and grasses.  This also allows for more precise clover seed placement which results in better stands.  When overseeding into an undisturbed summer grass sod, planting should be delayed until mid-October to early November.  The later planting date is necessary to reduce summer grass competition to the emerging clover seedlings.  On sandy soils, a light disking (1-2 in.) of a bermudagrass or bahiagrass sod will improve clover establishment and allow early planting dates used on a prepared seedbed.

Step-by-step planting guide
1. Select planting site and test soil to determine soil pH and any nutrient deficiencies.  If soil pH is lower than 6.0, test 6 months before planting to allow time for the applied lime to raise soil pH.
2. Select best adapted and otherwise suitable clover species for planting site.
3. Check with seed retailer at least 2 weeks before desired planting date in case selected clover species or inoculant are not in stock.
4.  If planting on a disked seedbed, apply phosphorus, potassium, and necessary minor nutrients before final land preparation.  If planting on lightly disked or undisturbed sod, delay fertilization until crop is up and has at least one leaf.
5. If coated preinoculated seed is purchased, store in a cool, shaded area until planting.  If uncoated seed is purchased, inoculate seed within 24 hours of planting and store in cool, shaded area until planting.  Hot temperatures will kill the Rhizobium bacteria on the seed.
6. Do not apply nitrogen fertilizer if clover is planted alone.  Planting annual ryegrass with the clover provides earlier grazing and reduces clover bloat potential.  Apply 60 to 70 lb nitrogen/acre in December to ryegrass-clover mixtures.
7. Grazing can begin when pasture is 4 to 6 inches tall. This will be early March if clover is planted alone, or early February if clover is mixed with annual ryegrass.


With the high cost of Nitrogen fertilizers these days I am looking for anything that can help me save money and create fertility in my pastures. I can not imagine a pasture forage mix that does not contain some bur clover in it.


My posts have become very focused on forage lately because of the lack of high quality forage due to drought. I will try to put together some cowboy and horsemanship focused posts in the next couple of weeks.
-J.D. Folbre

Things to Remember When Buying Horse Hay

In this time of drought and short hay supplies, horse owners should be careful when shopping for hay.  I have had to turn 18 wheeler loads of hay around because the quality was not what was promised.You must ask questions. Check the entire lot of hay you are purchasing before unloading.  If you are not familiar with the hay dealer, ask for references.  After all, being a knowledgeable hay buyer is part of being a responsible horse owner.

Many different types of hay are suited for horse feeding programs.  The popularity of a particular type is usually influenced by the geographical area.  Here in South Texas, coastal bermudgrass is well adapted and thus quite popular.  As you move north, alfalfa, timothy, orchardgrass and alfalfa/grass mixes become more popular.  Because of the potential for health problems, kleingrass, Johnsongrass, Sudangrass and sorghum/Sudan hybrids are not recommended for horses.



When choosing a type of hay to feed to horses consider several factors.  Most important is cleanliness, followed by nutrient value, and the type of horse being fed.
The best hay for horses  is clean hay.  If hay is moldy or dusty, it should not be fed to horses.  Hay that contains dust or mold can inflame their respiratory tracts and impair breathing ability.   Hay with mold or dust suggests that conditions in the field when hay was cut and baled were not ideal. 
Is the hay insect free?  Alfalfa hay may be infected with blister beetles. When a horse eats a blister beetle, a chemical called Cantharidin in the beetle causes colic, fever, and eventually death. Color is often used to determine hay quality, yet it can deceiving and overestimated as an indicator of quality.  Although bright green hay often indicates the absence of rain damage and good harvest conditions, color can be misleading. I have fed lightly rained on bermudagrass hay that was not the best looking hay but was still high quality forage. Bright green weeds can add color yet lower quality of hay and make it unpalatable.


The biggest factor that affects nutrient content within a type of hay is the stage of maturity at harvest.  Hay that is cut very early in the forage growth stage often has a soft texture, is very leafy, and has a high nutrient density and palatability.  Forages harvested at this stage are cut soon after the seedheads emerge (with grasses) or before the plant begins to bloom (with legumes). Often alfalfa is cut at approximately 25-30% bloom and blooms will be present in the hay- this is still considered high quality alfalfa.  In contrast, forages harvested in late maturity will have coarse, thick stems and less leaf material.  Bottom line, the more mature the plant at harvest, the lower the nutrient value and palatability.
The best way to evaluate the nutrient value of a hay sample is to have a chemical analysis performed form a lab like the Forage Testing Lab at Texas A&M University.  A submittal form and sampling instructions can be found at this web site: http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/files/Forageweb2.pdf



Another option for a hay source would be hay cubes.  There are two possible advantages to feeding hay cubes over baled hay: less dust than long hay and less waste. Hay cubes are usually more expensive than baled hay and consumption of cubes may be greater than with baled hay. 
To get the most value from hay it would be best to have some type of hay feeder, which reduces the amount of hay that the horses waste and in many cases can reduce waste by more than 20 percent.
More information about hay sources may be found at the Texas Department of Agriculture web site “Hay Hotline”  http://www.gotexan.org/HayhotlineHome.aspx

Top 7 Reasons Pasture Weed Control Programs Don't Work from the Noble Foundation

I haven't posted anything for a while as I don't always think I have something valuable to share. I am going to make a concerted effort to post on pasture and livestock management as well as equine management and training.

I saw this and felt it was too good not to share. This comes from the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Ok. I have some tips below on how you can be more successful controlling weeds.

http://www.noble.org/ag/soils/weedcontrolprograms/

Top 7 Reasons Pasture Weed Control Programs Don't Work

by Eddie Funderburg

This month, I want to identify and briefly discuss the top seven reasons I see that pasture weed control programs don't work as well as they should. A popular comedian has a top 10 list for his act, but since I'm only about 70 percent as funny as he is, I only have a top seven list.

Professional comedian: No. Pasture weed control expert: Yes. Here's Eddie Funderburg demonstrating the importance of scouting fields and identifying weeds - magnifying glass optional.

Number 7. Spraying too early (You hit 'em where they ain't.)
Many times, ranchers spray for weeds at a specific date on the calendar – May 1, for example. This works most of the time. However, what happens if the weather is not exactly average that year? If it's colder than average that spring, the weeds may not have emerged when you spray. You can miss them altogether by spraying too early, i.e., when the weeds are not there yet. The solution to this one is obvious – scout the fields and spray the weeds at the proper time based on stage of growth of the weed.

Number 6. Misidentification of the weed (What was that sucker, anyway?)
All weeds are not created equal in their willingness to die from our herbicide program. Try as you might, you're not going to kill a grass or sedge with 2, 4-D unless you set the container on top of it and leave it. Among broadleaf weeds, some tougher weeds to control are more susceptible to different products. Scout your fields and learn to identify the weeds. If you don't know what one is, ask someone who knows. After you've properly identified the weed, look at herbicide labels and find one that controls it.

Number 5. Bad environmental conditions (It's never too dry to spray...)
On about all weeds I can think of, control declines precipitously when they are in drought stress. The plants are merely trying to survive – they are not actively growing and taking up the herbicide in droughty conditions. While it may never be too dry to spray, it can be too dry to get good results. In addition to soil moisture, pay attention to wind speed and direction to control off-target drift. Life is much simpler when you kill weeds on your property and avoid killing the neighbor's garden.

Number 4. Sprayed at the wrong growth stage (I got to it when I could.)
Most weeds are best controlled when they are young and actively growing. When they get larger, it takes more herbicide to kill them, and control is much more erratic. Horsenettle and blackberries are an exception. Control of both of these is best when they are in full bloom or have fruit on them. Spraying them too early results in a top kill, but regrowth usually occurs. Read the label carefully to determine timings for specific weeds.

Number 3. Used the wrong product (What's the cheapest thing you've got?)
Often, the cheapest herbicide will do as well as anything else. This is true when the weeds fall into the easy-to-control category and conditions are ideal for control. For difficult-to-control weeds (Sericea lespedeza and horsenettle, for example), more expensive chemicals are usually needed. Going the cheap route can be good if you do an excellent job of observing the cautions listed previously in this article, but may not work if conditions are less than ideal.

Number 2. Didn't calibrate sprayer (I think a tankful covers somewhere between 10 and 50 acres.)
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the majority of ranchers don't calibrate their sprayers. This is a practice that should be done every season. Calculating the volume you spray is critical to knowing how much product to put into the tank. When you calibrate, also inspect nozzles, screens, lines, pump, etc., to make sure everything is OK. If you don't know how to calibrate a sprayer, the Noble Foundation soil and crops discipline has instructions for calibrating both boom and boomless sprayers. This is free to residents of Oklahoma and Texas and is available for a small fee to residents of other states.

Number 1. Didn't read the label (There's a lot of really small type on that thing.)
Reading the label covers all the other points mentioned. The label contains safety considerations, product use, container disposal and any other information about the product you need to know. Failure to follow labeled directions can not only lead to poor weed control, it is also a violation of federal law. Following the directions on the herbicide label is about the closest thing to getting a guarantee on weed control I can come up with.

There are many ways to conduct a weed control program that will work. Unfortunately, there are even more ways that will not work. The best chance for success lies in minimizing the incorrect ways.

As to identifying weeds there are numerous websites with pictures and control recommendations. I use the online herbariums at uvalde.tamu.edu and essmextension.tamu.edu

The chemical companies have tons of tips on using their products such as what rates to use for different weeds from Extension based field research and is usually published on their respective websites. These are very handy to interpreting