GrazonNext

[Richard Callahan]

I raise cattle in Tennessee. The farm which I have run my cattle has considerable issues with Pirella Mint, which is a poisonous plant to cattle. Cattle tyipically avoid it as it has a strong smell and apparently offensive taste as they never consume it. It does compete with desirable forages so you attempt to rid your pastures of it. I have used 2,4-D for years w/o problems and good immediate result but have never gotten rid of this plant as it returns the next season. This past summer I tried GrazonNext. It appeared to work well on Pirella Mint. We were very dry in August here and when we did get rain in September, the Pirella Mint weeds that appeared to have died from the spraying with GrazonNext came back to life with fresh lateral buds at each node. The difference in this new growth was that if proved deadly for 12 of my cows. The taste of the Pirella Mint plant was apparently more desireable to cattle after treating with GrazonNext. Over a period of 13 days, I lost 12 head of cattle, 3 in one day. Since I had sprayed parts of all of my grazing areas on this particular farm, I had to move my cattle. I sold them at a substantial discount to a local cattle dealer, with an unstanding to mutually share further losses that were due to the Pirella Mint poisoning. At the time this was the surest way to stop my loses. I had a necropsy done on one of the cows by the Tennessee lab which confirmed Pirella Mint poinsoning. There was no doubt the plants treated with GrazonNext were the culprits as the cattle only consumed GrazonNext affected areas. Healthy, untreated Pirella Mint plants were not consumed by my cattle. I have photos of such areas that are adjacent to areas that were sprayed to prove that only treated plants were eaten. Dow Chemical has not cooperated in accepting any responsibility for my loses. My question on this is, "How can you name a product 'Grazon' that carries such deadly, castrophic effects on the product you are trying to produce?" It forced me out of the cattle business except for a few head that were on another farm.

Richard Callahan
Tennessee

 

[TexasBred]

The Grazon didn't kill your cattle. The poisonous plant killed them. I've had cattle seem to actually follow the spray rig putting out grazon and eat right behind it with no ill effects. I would think the only claim Dow made apparently was that their product would kill the plants you used it on. Did it?

 

[Roadapple]

TB; read his post again. If Dow claimed Grazon would kill the weed and he said it apparently did, but with the rain they came back, apparently their claim is misleading, as it did'nt kill it. Could be it was'nt mixed right, but if he's been fighting it for years and is trying to kill it, would seem to me he would make a concerted effort to get it right. But it's not the first time I've heard of Dow not accepting blame for some of there products.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Tough break Richard, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[TexasBred]

TB; read his post again. If Dow claimed Grazon would kill the weed and he said it apparently did, but with the rain they came back, apparently their claim is misleading, as it did'nt kill it. Could be it was'nt mixed right, but if he's been fighting it for years and is trying to kill it, would seem to me he would make a concerted effort to get it right. But it's not the first time I've heard of Dow not accepting blame for some of there products.

No but apparently he hasn't had the best of luck with anything else either. I also didn't see in his post whether this particular plant was one of those plants Grazon was suppose to be effective on. Hire an attorney. Someone will take the case.

 

[dun]

http://msucares.com/crops/weeds/perilla.html
From the above link "Several of the broadleaf pasture herbicides, such as Weedmaster, Grazon P+D, 2,4-D, Banvel, Remedy, Crossbow, etc. should provide excellent control if applied timely and at the correct rate."

 

[wbvs58]

We have a toxic plant Fireweed (Senecio sp), it contains pyrrolzidine alkaloids, very toxic to the liver. The cattle leave it alone pretty good, however dead plants still contain the alkaloid and once it has hayed off, appears to be more palatable to cattle, especially if they are hungry and there is not much else to eat. It is sad to hear of your loss, 12 is quite a crash, I hope you can recover before too long.
Ken