Hero,
Like others, I haven't seen your place, but it probably looks like most of the pastures I see. I wouldn't down play the weed problem at all, if I were you. Weeds: shade grass, rob nutrients, and steal water. For a long long time, I controlled by clipping. Problems with that were, to get the weed, I had to clip close. Many time, the weed had already set seeds etc. It just seemed counter productive to me. I started spraying weeds on the way up. In other words, I spray them when they are actively growing long before they start producing seed.
I also think that the winter we had, disturbed the seed bank somehow. No science to prove that, it just seems to explain the explosion i saw. Add to that, the moisture my area saw, and we had a bumper crop of weeds. Your cool season weeds aren't an issue IMHO. Its those warm season weeds that cost you grass. They are going to town, while your fescue is going dormant. Do a little inspection this afternoon of your pasture. Concentrate on a 10 by 10 area, that's a pretty good representation of your pasture. Dont count the weeds, but on some type of visual inspection determine what the percent grass to weeds is. I bet you will be surprised. Lift up a weed, and inspect the fescue under it. I also think you will be surprised.
If your not sold on treating the whole place next year, that's fine, its your place, but I would make a stab at an area about 50 by 50 next year with a pump up sprayer and and a couple ounces of 2 four D to the gallon in it. Just walk, and mimic what a pull behind sprayer will be doing. Make sure you do it, while the warm season weeds are small, and actively growing. Give it a month, and compare the amount fescue there, with other areas on your farm. I came to the determination, that spraying is my best bet for more grass. I can't buy more land, I've got to grow more fescue on what I have.
I know the whole monoculture debate rages on, and I have diminished the amount of white clover that I have. It's not all gone, but some things I've sprayed have hammered it worse than others. Keeping the weeds out has encouraged crabgrass, goose grass, and barnyard grass. I mean a lot of that stuff. Cows like it, and it has nutritional value (probably better than Fescue, but I can't prove it).
It's your call, and that's probably the longest post I've ever made on here. Thumbs area actually tired. I wanted more grass, to raise more calves, and I think I chose the cheapest route. I have actually set a goal, to spray some parts of my place twice next year. Once in June, and once in late July. If it's growing on my place, and a cow won't eat it, its not my friend, it's my enemy. Nutrients cost, and water can be scarce. $8-$12 an acre can go a long way to reducing your weeds by 80 plus %. Even if you don't add more cattle, you should feed less hay later, because fescue will make that big September push.
