This is probably some of the nuttiest questions I've asked in a while, so forgive me they are...
In our hayfield revitalization plan this upcoming year, the plan is to spray everything with 2,4-D in mid April to knock down the weeds and cut the hay in mid May (if possible), again around the 4th of July and again in mid to late August. At that point, we plan to kill everything down to dirt and start over.
I've been doing a bit of reading and it sounds like one can mix 2,4-D with some liquid fertilizer (type TBD) and in doing so, get the weeds to launch into a growth spurt and really suck-in the 2,4-D for a better kill. The rest of the grass hay would benefit to some extent from the liquid fertilizer. The aftermath would hopefully give us some hay with considerably fewer weeds as well as a bit higher yield.
Anyone had any success with mixing 2,4-D and a liquid fertilizer?
With the whole burn down to dirt and start from scratch plans, one of our biggest challenges and expenses is that our farm geographically is in a bad spot relative to lime and fertilizer co-op places (read long distances) as well as seed drill rental. This makes their stuff very expensive just due to the distances and some won't deliver at all.
I don't see any of getting around lime, but fertilizing going forward - is some type of liquid fertilizer with my 50 gal/3pt sprayer a realistic option? Today is 12 acres, maybe as much as 30 in a few years.
Drilling seed, just due to rental distances is going to be a challenge too. One of the things I've thought about, which runs counter to our plans, is knocking down the weeds, forgetting about a burn down/start over and making due with the fields as they are. With that approach, we'd try some kind of broadcast and or frost seeding - looking at over time having one dominate grass from our efforts. If a liquid fertilizer is a real solution and not a gimmick, then I've got the equipment to go this route and wouldn't have to depend on the co-ops, other than lime.
Much to consider.
Any advice/suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks!
Bill
In our hayfield revitalization plan this upcoming year, the plan is to spray everything with 2,4-D in mid April to knock down the weeds and cut the hay in mid May (if possible), again around the 4th of July and again in mid to late August. At that point, we plan to kill everything down to dirt and start over.
I've been doing a bit of reading and it sounds like one can mix 2,4-D with some liquid fertilizer (type TBD) and in doing so, get the weeds to launch into a growth spurt and really suck-in the 2,4-D for a better kill. The rest of the grass hay would benefit to some extent from the liquid fertilizer. The aftermath would hopefully give us some hay with considerably fewer weeds as well as a bit higher yield.
Anyone had any success with mixing 2,4-D and a liquid fertilizer?
With the whole burn down to dirt and start from scratch plans, one of our biggest challenges and expenses is that our farm geographically is in a bad spot relative to lime and fertilizer co-op places (read long distances) as well as seed drill rental. This makes their stuff very expensive just due to the distances and some won't deliver at all.
I don't see any of getting around lime, but fertilizing going forward - is some type of liquid fertilizer with my 50 gal/3pt sprayer a realistic option? Today is 12 acres, maybe as much as 30 in a few years.
Drilling seed, just due to rental distances is going to be a challenge too. One of the things I've thought about, which runs counter to our plans, is knocking down the weeds, forgetting about a burn down/start over and making due with the fields as they are. With that approach, we'd try some kind of broadcast and or frost seeding - looking at over time having one dominate grass from our efforts. If a liquid fertilizer is a real solution and not a gimmick, then I've got the equipment to go this route and wouldn't have to depend on the co-ops, other than lime.
Much to consider.
Any advice/suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks!
Bill