# NOXIOUS WEED CONTROL - GrazonNext HL?



## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

I picked up some weeds in some hay I bought last winter. I remember a nasty thorny plant mixed in with the hay and wore gloves but otherwise didn't think much of it.

Then I began to notice a plant growing throughout my pasture that not even goats would eat. I did some research and this was Carolina Horse Nettle, a poisonous member of the nightshade family. It resembles a thorny tomato plant which is also a nightshade and has a greenish-yellow berry/tomato type fruit.

I began to do some research and it seemed this wasn't something you wanted at all. Basically because the goats don't eat it, they have less and less of an area to feed and this stuff takes over because it goes undisturbed. I tried pulling some by hand but since the root of the more mature plants can be many feet, I realized this was just a waste of time. It was also a situation that the more I looked, the more I found. Basically this had become really entrenched by the time I realized I had a problem.

It appears that the goats either ate the seeds out of the hay and pooped them out or ate berries on the mature plants and pooped those. Luckily most of the infestation ends where the goats are fenced in and doesn't proceed further.

So, I realized that simply pulling it wasn't going to work. I needed an herbicide to spray that wouldn't hurt the goats. Roundup, Weed B Gone, and others were suggested but they were not for use around animals. I found GrazonNext HL and then I contacted the local USDA office as well as the feed store I frequent. Everyone suggested this product as it won't hurt any grazing animals.

I have started spraying this and am already seeing results. I started with a large sprayer from my pickup bed and am touching up with spot spraying using a held held sprayer unit now. I also pick the tomatoes and burn them to destroy the seeds.

So far, so good. I am hoping to get this under control this fall and then mostly have this eliminated next spring/summer. I am assuming that 100% eradication is not likely but will keep an eye out for plants that pop up.

They also say that when animals eat foliage treated with this herbicide, their poop and pee become a weed killer of sorts. This should keep the seeds they eat from sprouting.

Anyone else have to use this? I really didn't want to go the chemical route but this was beyond my control by the time I realized it.

There was also another weed called hogwart or goatweed that got in with this hay. I am trying to get rid of this as well since the goats don't like to eat it either. I do not know why it is called goatweed.

These weeds are not on the state list of noxious and invasive species but I think I should notify the guy I got the hay from. His place must be a complete infestation of weeds.

Conor


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I wonder if its similar to Milestone? Thats what I use, it kills weeds but not grass and is used for grazing animals as well. I'll have to look it up.


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

It sounds like a similar product. Grazon is supposed to only target broad leaf plants.

Conor


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I'm going to look into it and see if its safer and/or cheaper than Milestone. I think when I bought Milestone it was like $300 for a pint? Granted you only need 3.5cc per gallon of water so it goes a long way.


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

The Grazon Next HL was like $104 per 2 gallons here. You use between 2-4 ounces per gallon though so am not sure it is cheaper.

Conor


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

They are both made by Dow Chemical.

I suspect Milestone is a milder herbicide compared to Grazon. http://www.dowagro.com/en-us/vm/products/milestone

See Grazon at http://www.dowagro.com/en-us/range/products/grazonnext-hl

It looks like there are several other Dow herbicides that would work as well with slightly different targets.

The horse nettle weed I am going after can actually be enhanced by certain herbicides that kill the surrounding plants but leave it alone. This one targets it so that was important to me.

Conor​


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I have a similar problem only with the nightshade vine. It's all over the fences. None of the animals eat it, but they do scatter the berries. I am afraid to use most of the weed killers I can find up here. I have pulled it up by hand, but the stuff can be absorbed thru the skin and makes me sick. 

I'll have to investigate these products! Thanks!


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Ooo. Oooo! "Broad Leaf"? Does it work on poison Ivy?????????????????


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

The goats have destroyed all the poison ivy on my place they can get to so I don't know how it is impacted by GrazonNext. Anyway, the horsenettle is starting to die so that is good news. I try to touch up areas I miss with a two gallon sprayer anytime I head out to the pasture or have time to kill. I am winning against this weed as of now and it is a bad one.

Conor


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

Apparently Grazon works on just about everything - apparently it works on tradescantia, and I can say for certain that roundup and others do sod all there.


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

By nightshade vine, do you mean morning glory? Yes, it is on some of my fences too so I sprayed it and it appears to kill that as well.

Conor


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## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

I haven't used Grazon, but it was one of the ones that I researched before decided to get a similar but less expensive product that was still based primarily on 2-4-D.
My primary poisonous and noxious weed is Tansy Ragwort, which isn't as deadly as Nightshade, thankfully, but it's just as invasive and nothing will eat it. As it turns out, it's highly resistant to herbicides but not quite immune. This year I made it very sick. Next year I plan to finish it off.
One thing I found out during my research is that if you use one of the broad leaf weed killers, you shouldn't compost any of the weed or grass clippings from that area. Maybe not even the manure. It will rot and seem perfectly fine, but it will kill or sicken any plants that try to grow in it (except grass.)


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

The nightshade takes a pretty good dose to kill. We will see if I just made it sick this year or finished it off. Either way it is nasty stuff and thorny as well so very undesirable.

I read the same thing about the manure, urine, and even hay. Anything treated will kill broadleafs for up to 18 months. I am not too upset about this and actually like the fact that if they eat the seed pods, they will likely not grow.

Conor


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

I understand that Roundup type weed killers will also work but that this can harm the animals if they eat it.

What are some other cheaper or generic versions of the 2-4-D herbicides that can be used around animals? Grazon isn't cheap and I understand there is a generic of an older product out there that is similar. That being said, 2 gallons is $100 which goes a long way so it isn't all that bad.


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

I found the generic. It is called "picloram p+d" and not really much cheaper than Grazon so there isn't much of a reason to switch.

Conor


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