It’s not too late to spray docks in grass

Brent Gibbon, Grassland Agronomy Manager, Dow AgroSciences
Brent Gibbon, Grassland Agronomy Manager, Dow AgroSciences

Now is a good time to spray perennial grassland weeds such as docks and thistles with a translocated herbicide, as the plants are starting to send nutrients down to their roots ready for winter, according to Brent Gibbon, grassland agronomy manager with Dow AgroSciences.

“Weed control in grass fields is traditionally done in spring in the UK, yet there is usually also a good opportunity later in the season,” explains Mr. Gibbon. “In fact there are many good reasons for doing it in late summer and autumn. Treatments will be very effective as long as the weed is biologically active – so before the first frosts appear.”

In fields cut for silage or hay, docks and thistles have regrown well and are in a perfect leafy condition for taking up herbicides. Killing them now also allows the grass to re-colonise the spaces left by the dead weeds and sets the field up for a clean start next spring.

With grass covers in many areas more than adequate to meet current feed demand, it is easier to have fields out of action for seven days now to meet the required stock withdrawal period, than it is in April or May.

Spraying docks now will create clean swards for next year and reduce spring workload
Spraying docks now will create clean swards for next year and reduce spring workload

And where the final cut of the year has been taken, there is no pressure to apply the herbicide at least three weeks before the next harvest.

“Spring is an incredibly busy time for livestock farmers and weed control often gets left undone,” Mr. Gibbon acknowledges. “Spraying now actually makes more sense, because there is more time for remedial field work.

“Where docks are the main problem, DoxstarPro will do a good job; if thistles and or nettles are present then go for a product with a wider weed spectrum such as PastorPro or Forefront T.”

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More information from:

Brent Gibbon

Grassland Agronomy Manager, Dow AgroSciences,

Mob: 07779 802199, Email: bgibbon@dow.com