Ragweed and other Perils
This is a scary year, maybe the driest winter and spring we have experienced at least in a very long time. I needn’t mention the price of fertilizer as everyone knows it is way beyond record prices. One of these factors could be a terrible strain on local ag producers, but both really make this a hard year. Most years I would say fertilize, it will help you take better advantage of whatever rainfall we do receive and will usually make you money. With the combination of this year’s cost and rain predictions, I cannot in good faith recommend anyone spend a lot of money on dryland forages at least not until we get some good general rainfall with a little more in the forecast.
Weed control may be one of those things that is still worth the money. Some herbicides have gone through the roof, but most pasture and range herbicides are relatively close to previous years prices. Even in a drought year, many weeds will somehow seem to thrive and will outcompete your grass. It is true herbicide effectiveness will be hampered when spraying drought stressed weed, you can still get plenty of benefit. This might be a year when you question spending extra money on herbicides that have more soil and residual activity, because without rainfall this will be of no value to you. Weedmaster type products that have only leaf activity maybe a better option?
One weed that is at about the perfect stage to spray right now is stinking ragweed. There are several types of ragweed that can be found in Texas, the most common here in Comanche County include: Western Ragweed, Common Ragweed, and Giant Ragweed. Ragweed is one of the most common forbs on our rangeland. In deep soils it will reach a depth of 5 to 6 feet, making it extremely competitive with most of our grasses and helping it to survive drought conditions. For this reason most cattlemen have a strong disliking for ragweed. Quail hunters on the other hand may have a soft spot for ragweed, as the seeds are a great Quail food. If you are an allergy sufferer, you should have a strong disliking for ragweed. Most all fall allergies can be traced to ragweed, a single ragweed plant can produce up to a billion pollen grains.
Ragweed is a perennial and can produce new growth from roots. This year’s seedlings will not produce seed until next year. Ragweed is an early germinator; this early germination allows it to get a jump on grasses and decreases the chance for the grass to shade out the ragweed. Like most weeds ragweed really comes on strong in over grazed areas, where there is little competition from grasses. These over grazed areas are where you will usually find Western and Common Ragweed. Giant ragweed loves to grow in cattle lots or other areas where you have feed livestock and the soil is rich in nutrients. Giant ragweed really is a giant; it can grow 10 to 12 ‘tall and it has a very rapid growth rate.
All ragweed’s can be controlled effectively with herbicides, but timing is very important. The Noble Foundation in Ardmore Oklahoma conducted herbicide trials on Western Ragweed in 2008 and 2009 these trials included: Milestone, GrazonNext, ForeFront, Cimmarron Max, Grazon P+D, Range Star and 2,4-D amine applied at label rates. In each trial results were excellent, exceeding 90% control, for each herbicide. The average size of the ragweed at the treatment site was 6” or less.