Weedy oats

[rrlund]

I just couldn't get the K2 to clean the ragweed seed out of the oats. We had one darned odd summer. I planted oats the last week of April. They came up and headed out without ever having a rain, then on June 25 it started raining and didn't quit. They stooled out and headed out all over again. They were finally ripe enough to cut yesterday and the day before, but the ragweed had taken over.

I couldn't spray them because they were seeded to alfalfa. I had a devil of a time getting them out of the combine, then had to dig them out of the gravity wagons with a round pointed shovel. There were a few loads on the middle of the field that were a little cleaner, but barely. I put two loads of those in the bin, but I piled the rest on the floor of the bunker silo and I'll just push them in to the corn when I start filling silo. If I ever get oats that bad again, I'm just cutting them with the discbine and rolling them up with the round baler.
 

[centash]

Run them through the forage harvester and feed as silage .....you may be able to salvage some of the crop. Either that or swath them and let the windrow dry...may be too late in the season for that....

Ben
 

[casecollectorsc]

Same scenario here in E SD also. But the field was weed free. Had to wait for the late ones to ripen also. Have not seen that problem in 55 years of farming before.
 

[rrlund]

It's just a darned good thing I bought the neighbor's wheat straw. I'm gonna bale what came off the combine without clipping it, but it'll be some poor straw. I didn't even bother to keep any for seed. I'll have to buy seed in the spring.
 

[Wisconsin Ron]

I remember those days. You can spray but you usually have very narrow window then the weather not right during the window. Swathing makes the combining go so much smoother. But then again the weather can hinder you.
 

[Charlie M]

I think your oats will mold due to moisture in the rag weed. You can stick your hand into them a few times and see if they get warm.
 

[rrlund]

They're definitely gonna ferment. There'll likely be about a four inch layer of mold. The ones on the silo floor will probably be in better shape than the ones in the bin.
 

[ss55]

The manure will probably have a high amount of viable ragweed seeds in it. Might want to plan where to spread it next year so the sprouting ragweed can be controlled.
 

[rrlund]

Ya, wherever I use that straw, the manure won't be going on oat ground. With it mixed in the silage, there's even some getting pushed out of the feed bunk and surviving. I've been mixing some in to the feed the last few days already.
 

[paul]

When I had beans with a whole lot of rag or waterhemp seed in them running through a rotary cleaner helped a lot. Didnt make it perfect but it made it useable.

Finding the right screen for oats might be more effort than its worth.

Paul
 

[rrlund]

That's the advantage of feeding cattle, you can generally salvage most anything for either feed or bedding.
 

[Hoofer B]

Sounds like it was a losing battle. Forage would have been a better option. Bill