May/June 2003

Plateau helps keep pastures clean.

Knockout Punch For Pasture Grasses
This herbicide will help control undesirable grasses in pastures and hay meadows

David Allred takes pride in producing quality products. He is rewarded for quality in the broiler chickens that he raises near Blountsville, Ala. And now he’s upgrading his 90-cow commercial beef herd by using high-quality Brangus and Hereford bulls.

So not surprisingly, Allred was more than a little dismayed to see johnsongrass popping up throughout the 30 acres of Tifton 44 bermudagrass he had sprigged to produce quality hay for his cattle.

"I know johnsongrass makes decent hay,” he concedes. “But by the time the Tifton 44 is ready to cut, some of the johnsongrass is 4 feet tall. It dries at a different rate and is hard to cure. When I feed the hay, cows just ignore the johnsongrass and eat the bermuda."

As he often does when he needs production advice, Allred discussed his situation with Mel Wade, manager of the Southern States co-op at nearby Oneonta. Wade suggested treating the hay pasture with Plateau herbicide.

"We’ve had a lot of success using Plateau to control johnsongrass and crabgrass in bermudagrass pastures," Wade says.

Plateau is a BASF herbicide that’s registered for control of summer annual and perennial grasses in bermudagrass pastures and hay meadows. It may be used on common and improved varieties of bermudagrass, including Coastal, Tifton 44, 78 and 85, Russell, and Alicia.

It should not be used on World Feeder varieties. Jiggs bermuda also shows sensitivity to Plateau treatments. And it should not be applied to drought-stressed or newly established plantings.

"We like it because Plateau is the only herbicide currently on the market that can be used on forage grasses to control other undesirable grasses,"says Phil Howard, marketing manager for crops, turf and forestry at Southern States. Those undesirable grasses include southern and smooth crabgrass, johnsongrass, foxtails, broadleaf signalgrass, panicums, barnyardgrass, sandburs, vaseygrass, nutsedges and a host of others. It also suppresses dallisgrass and smutgrass.

"Plateau is ideal for increasing the value of high-quality hay grown for horse and other specialty markets," Howard adds.

Plateau should be applied postemergence to the target weed species.
“This herbicide can suppress bermudagrass growth for 30 to 45 days after application, depending on growing conditions,"cautions Hugh Haynes, a Southern States agronomist at Troy, Ala. "So it should not be applied until 100% of the grass has greened up."

Although there are no grazing restrictions, hay should not be harvested for seven days following Plateau treatments.

Last year, after removing the first cutting of hay, Allred had the co-op apply Plateau to his meadow.

It stunted the bermudagrass slightly and delayed the second cutting, he reports. More importantly, he observed that 80 to 90% of the johnsongrass was controlled with one application.

Plateau is absorbed through leaves, stems and roots and is rapidly translocated throughout the plant. The addition of other herbicides can improve control of broadleaf weeds. Recommended tank mixes with Plateau include Weedmaster, Grazon, Remedy, Ally, Redeem and 2,4-D. Applications must include a nonionic surfactant. Although water is the preferred carrier, a liquid fertilizer can be used.