Pasture restoration

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LonesomeDove

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Hey y'all, greetings from Texas

I have 400 acres that I run cattle on, there is two old hay fields totaling about 30 acres I would like to improve, they are filled with short mesquite about two foot high, weeds and scattered prickly pear cactus. I sprayed all the mesquite this spring on foot with a backpack sprayer/remedy and left it standing, time consuming process waiting for it to wilt so I could see what was missed. The Thistle was also bad this year. I've started scooping up prickly pear here and there with the tractor and dumping it in a brush pile. What can I do to reduce the weeds and promote grass growth? More often than not the only green is the weeds/dove weed that took over this summer. I am located in around central/South TX. We have been in a drought the last few years but hoping that turns around soon. I do not have much for equipment, just a 4wd 40HP tractor and a large dozer.
 
Hey y'all, greetings from Texas

I have 400 acres that I run cattle on, there is two old hay fields totaling about 30 acres I would like to improve, they are filled with short mesquite about two foot high, weeds and scattered prickly pear cactus. I sprayed all the mesquite this spring on foot with a backpack sprayer/remedy and left it standing, time consuming process waiting for it to wilt so I could see what was missed. The Thistle was also bad this year. I've started scooping up prickly pear here and there with the tractor and dumping it in a brush pile. What can I do to reduce the weeds and promote grass growth? More often than not the only green is the weeds/dove weed that took over this summer. I am located in around central/South TX. We have been in a drought the last few years but hoping that turns around soon. I do not have much for equipment, just a 4wd 40HP tractor and a large dozer.
1st thing to do, is go back into your profile and add your location. You will get a lot more, and a lot more accurate responses that way. and do what @kenny thomas suggested" Pull soild samples and lime and fertilize to specs. You never mentioned what kind of grass the hayfields are, if they have any to speak of. If not, mix Roundup and 24D, and just kill everything off. If you do have Bermuda, if you do it while it is still dormant, it won't hurt what is there. What is on the other 370 acres, forage wise?
 
Do you mind passing a long a little more detail on your location like a county or area? Is you ground sandy or black or rocky or all the above? LoL I am guessing you see SA area based off your description.

Spot spraying the mesquite was good. Scraping the prickly pear will help open things up in the short term but when agitated they tend to come back worse. They can also be hand sprayed.

Find a good herb/ fert contractor or a co-op or some thing that's sprays. They is going to be your best bet. A mixture of boom spraying and spot spraying will give you the best results and don't require much equipment on your part.

Grass management will be a big one also. Even on a drought, keeping a healthy stand of grass really keeps those weeds and things out and promotes good soil health.

Is wildlife a priority or concern on this property also?
 
If it was grown up in mesquite it must not have been clipped in years. I would clip it short so the sun could reach the ground and see what comes up after a rain. You probably have enough seed bank to not have to plant anything. As others have said, do a soil test and be aware that there are many ways to amend soil with out having to buy expensive fertilizer. Chicken litter does absolute wonders as does gin trash and compost.
 
I'm sorry Twisted but shredding Mesquite is one of the worst things you can do for it. It needs be be spot sprayed as Brute mentioned. Shredding it makes the plant multi branched and encourages it to spread along the ground instead of upright. A lot of times the plant does both when disturbed.

The best bet would be to buy a 300 gallon trailer sprayer. His tractor will handle that and with some good herbicide, he can see what he has for grass. I would spot spray the cactus also. That is one job you can do in the winter.
 
I'm sorry Twisted but shredding Mesquite is one of the worst things you can do for it. It needs be be spot sprayed as Brute mentioned. Shredding it makes the plant multi branched and encourages it to spread along the ground instead of upright. A lot of times the plant does both when disturbed.

The best bet would be to buy a 300 gallon trailer sprayer. His tractor will handle that and with some good herbicide, he can see what he has for grass. I would spot spray the cactus also. That is one job you can do in the winter.
He said that he sprayed the mesquite last spring. I was referring to the fact that If it is a hayfield that hasn't been grazed or cut in years, that he would do good to clip it.
 
Hey y'all, greetings from Texas

I have 400 acres that I run cattle on, there is two old hay fields totaling about 30 acres I would like to improve, they are filled with short mesquite about two foot high, weeds and scattered prickly pear cactus. I sprayed all the mesquite this spring on foot with a backpack sprayer/remedy and left it standing, time consuming process waiting for it to wilt so I could see what was missed. The Thistle was also bad this year. I've started scooping up prickly pear here and there with the tractor and dumping it in a brush pile. What can I do to reduce the weeds and promote grass growth? More often than not the only green is the weeds/dove weed that took over this summer. I am located in around central/South TX. We have been in a drought the last few years but hoping that turns around soon. I do not have much for equipment, just a 4wd 40HP tractor and a large dozer.
I think it would pay to consider improving your soil microbiology as the answer. Check out Dr. Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web network. There are consultants all over the world. She has worked with and helped farms, large and small, worldwide and improved crop yields on, I believe, over 5 million acres, eliminating harmful pesticides and inorganic fertilizers thereby improving soil quality. Worth a look. Good luck.
 
He said that he sprayed the mesquite last spring. I was referring to the fact that If it is a hayfield that hasn't been grazed or cut in years, that he would do good to clip it.
We don't do a lot of clipping in STX. It tends to just spread the bad stuff like dove weed and prickly pair. It also sets the good grass back and makes it easier the invasive grasses like KR Bluestem. Most people who have been at it a while prefer to just keep that grass stockpiled and put molasses out in the winter to utilize it. Cranking up tractors can get very expensive with horns, mesquite, hog roots, etc.

Plus, it's best to let those spot sprayed mesquites break over and decompose themselves so you know they are dead for sure. I think a mesquite sead can stay dormant in the soil for 10-15 years so he/she will be spraying every year for a good while to get ride of them.
 
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Just curious about mesquites, never delt with them. If they are only a few years old, could they be pulled out of the ground with a chain off the loader or drag? I have had success doing this with other trees. They dont come back.
 
Just curious about mesquites, never delt with them. If they are only a few years old, could they be pulled out of the ground with a chain off the loader or drag? I have had success doing this with other trees. They dont come back.
There is all kinds of equipment for removing them. It's not the tree that gets you. In fact they make real nice trees. Its the seed bed. When you take the big ones out the little ones go crazy trying to fill in. They will grow pretty dense.
 
Shredding them, pulling them out, or even just damaging them with a tire triggers a survival instinct in the roots to put out numerous shoots. You go from a single stem plant to a multi stem bush. As Brute said, its best to apply the herbicide and let them go and rot naturally or pick them up when they are laid over. Sure you will still have thorns around but shredding them just spreads the thorns .

I pickup a lot of the small plants after they are broke off to get the thorns out of the pasture. They make a great fire starter for you fire pit.

I suggest a 15 gallon sprayer for your 4 wheeler to spot spray. 10 gallons will go a long way. Its best to have a fresh mix than to to mix a bunch and not use it for weeks. I use Sendero at the label rates but spike it with some Remedy and Surmount. You can use that mix on just about anything that grows in Texas. Use plenty of surfactant. After every plant is sprayed you can slowly reduce the needed size of your spot sprayer to do maintenance. I only use a 2 gallon sprayer now and keep a pretty good handle on 400 acres. My cattle rotate so the sprayer goes with me when I check them. That puts me in each pasture every couple months or so.
 
We don't do a lot of clipping in STX. It tends to just spread the bad stuff like dove weed and prickly pair. It also sets the good grass back and makes it easier the invasive grasses like KR Bluestem. Most people who have been at it a while prefer to just keep that grass stockpiled and put molasses out in the winter to utilize it. Cranking up tractors can get very expensive with horns, mesquite, hog roots, etc.

Plus, it's best to let those spot sprayed mesquites break over and decompose themselves so you know they are dead for sure. I think a mesquite sead can stay dormant in the soil for 10-15 years so he/she will be spraying every year for a good while to get ride of them.
If they can't be cut, or pulled up, how on earth do you create a hayfield? How can you cut hay without cutting them too? I have prickly pear on my place. Not near as many as there was when I bought it. And I clip the weeds 3 times a season, haven't sprayed the first chemical yet.
 
If they can't be cut, or pulled up, how on earth do you create a hayfield? How can you cut hay without cutting them too? I have prickly pear on my place. Not near as many as there was when I bought it. And I clip the weeds 3 times a season, haven't sprayed the first chemical yet.
Once you get them down to 2' high like the original poster said he has, you just kill as many as you can as you go. You never get them all and you never get finished. Baling them up doesn't hurt anything. Usually by late fall if you stay on top of them, you have most of them killed for the year. If they come back up by your first cutting. they will be very small. They really start growing later in the summer when its hot and dry.
 
If they can't be cut, or pulled up, how on earth do you create a hayfield? How can you cut hay without cutting them too? I have prickly pear on my place. Not near as many as there was when I bought it. And I clip the weeds 3 times a season, haven't sprayed the first chemical yet.
If you want productive land you have to have a spraying plan. It only takes 3 years to lose a pasture to woody plants in decent soil.

Once mesquite and huisatche get established in a hay field it is very hard to spray them out because of the constant cutting. A lot of people put a light herb in their fert in the spring to get the new sprouts early.

If you only clip a pasture you will slowly lose it over 5-10 years. You will look down one day and be mowing a mat of brush vs a mat of grass.
 
Just curious about mesquites, never delt with them. If they are only a few years old, could they be pulled out of the ground with a chain off the loader or drag? I have had success doing this with other trees. They dont come back.
Mesquites have a very deep taproot. I think you would have to get all of it to prevent its coming back.
 
If they can't be cut, or pulled up, how on earth do you create a hayfield? How can you cut hay without cutting them too? I have prickly pear on my place. Not near as many as there was when I bought it. And I clip the weeds 3 times a season, haven't sprayed the first chemical yet.
Have you put the pencil to how much it is costing you to mow 3 times a year and what it would cost to spray once? This data is from 2003 but still hold true and that is for just one mowing. https://forages.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/legacy-files/PDF/mowvsherb.pdf
 
Hey y'all, greetings from Texas

I have 400 acres that I run cattle on, there is two old hay fields totaling about 30 acres I would like to improve, they are filled with short mesquite about two foot high, weeds and scattered prickly pear cactus. I sprayed all the mesquite this spring on foot with a backpack sprayer/remedy and left it standing, time consuming process waiting for it to wilt so I could see what was missed. The Thistle was also bad this year. I've started scooping up prickly pear here and there with the tractor and dumping it in a brush pile. What can I do to reduce the weeds and promote grass growth? More often than not the only green is the weeds/dove weed that took over this summer. I am located in around central/South TX. We have been in a drought the last few years but hoping that turns around soon. I do not have much for equipment, just a 4wd 40HP tractor and a large dozer.
No matter what you do, if you don't change how you graze, it is just going to revert back. Look up Alejandro Carrillo and Fernando Falomir. Both have reclaimed large tracts of land through grazing alone.

I'm not sure what you're calling Dove weed, but most weeds, including thistles are at least as high in nutrition as grass. What the cows don't eat, sheep or goats will.
 

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