Dealing with a Cheat Grass and Foxtail Barley infestation.

[CliffordK]

So far not much of the Foxtail Barley has made it into the hay pastures, but there is quite a bit in various grazing pastures. That will probably be step 2 in trying to reduce or eliminate it. A large patch of the Foxtail Barley is under an oak grove. Some notes indicate it is an annual, others seem to indicate a perennial.

Unfortunately some Cheat Grass has gotten into one hay pasture. I only have about 1 acre that I decided not to harvest... yet. At the end of the haying, I'll cut and bale it, and send it off to the local yard waste company. Perhaps it would be best to do it first rather than last, but I didn't want to contaminate my hay equipment mid season. I'd rather minimize the use of broad area Roundup. If I get the levels down, I can try spot application later.

My idea is to try to cut and bale and remove as much of it as possible. Then if I can get the timing right, let it germinate in the fall, and rototill in the early spring and replant with a clean hay crop. I could also till and plant in the fall.

Is it OK to plant with broadcast seeding rather than drilling?

 

[ericm979]

I've also got foxtail in some of the pastures that I want to get rid of.

 

[CliffordK]

I tried a spring mowing of the foxtail a couple of years ago, but I don't think it was particularly successful. The main area is being grazed by cattle at the moment. I'm not looking forward to a broad attack under the oaks.

 

[jaxs]

I've never dealt with Foxtail so I would seek advice of local ag agent. Annuals that grow upright and tall with seed at top can often be controlled by mowing as seed begin to form but before seed ripen. On hay ground, baling earlier or later as the case might be can serve as well. That is to say that unripe seed in hay doesn't spread plant.

 

[ericm979]

I tried a spring mowing of the foxtail a couple of years ago, but I don't think it was particularly successful. The main area is being grazed by cattle at the moment. I'm not looking forward to a broad attack under the oaks.

The foxtail's worst where I mowed in June last year right before the fire district shut down mowing for the summer. The grass was still a bit green then. The parts that got mowed in September stayed in timothy and orchard grass. Of course there could be other factors besides mowing but I think it's contributing.

I mowed the foxtail twice this spring and it just comes back and grows another seed head. I was going to mow it again last week but decided mowing is just making it worse.

 

[jyoutz]

IDK about foxtail, but cheatgrass is an annual that only establishes on bare ground and it doesn’t compete with perennial grasses. If you can mow the cheatgrass and establish good perennial vegetation, you won’t see cheatgrass.

 

[CliffordK]

The cheat grass is popping up in an established hay field. But It had seemed that some had popped up when an oak tree fell down in about February 2024 and may have disrupted some of the soil. But then expanded from there.

 

[jyoutz]

The cheat grass is popping up in an established hay field. But It had seemed that some had popped up when an oak tree fell down in about February 2024 and may have disrupted some of the soil. But then expanded from there.

Interesting. I’ve never seen cheatgrass establish anywhere but on bare ground. Eugene is wet enough that i would be surprised if perennial vegetation didn’t crowd it out over time.

 

[ericm979]

This looks useful: Foxtail control in pastures and hayground