weed control

Do granular herbicides work as well as liquid herbicides? I have a fertilizer spreader but not a sprayer and would like to control weeds that come up in our pastures. In the past i have used my father in laws sprayer with rangestar and it seemed to work ok. How do granular fertilizers compare in cost to liquid applications for a twelve acre area? We have what i believe to be milkweed along with other various weeds.

For the weeds you are wanting to control the liquid works much better.

As for an applicator for the liquid. All you need is a fifty gallon barrel, 12 volt pump, and 1-2 boom less spray nozzles. The nozzles are just a large flood nozzle. They will spray up to 18 feet wide. I have seen some that will go up to 30ft. Then just put the barrel on whatever you want to use. I have seen them mounted on the back of a tractor, the rack of a ATV or the bed of a pickup. You can easily run the 12 volt pump off any battery. Most just used a trolling motor marine battery.

So for less than a few hundred dollars you can have a pretty nice pasture sprayer

Grazon is the most common product used around. here.
Grazon P D herbicide High Volume Foliar

Nozzle Xp Boomjet Stainless

He will need a license for Grazon. Won't 24D work for him?

From the little knowledge i have about these products, won't 24d kill more than just the weeds? I am looking to spread or spray everything.

He will need a pesticide applicators license in most states for anything except round up type products. Here, in NY State, you had better have a license or someone will report you help you get a big fine.
I disagree with JD Seller on making you own sprayer. There are some low priced sprayers on the market that will do OK for what you are doing. Better yet if you have a farmer near-by that would come and spray your pasture you would be way ahead of the game. A sprayer is used once twice a year and then just sits.
Also, remember, Pesticides and herbicides are restricted because they can be dangerous if not used properly.

Any of the pasture sprays are going to be rough on any broad leaf plants. Weeds and hay alike. You will have the grass left and that is what most pastures are.

2-4D is a broad leaf weed killers but it does little if any trans location to the roots. So you burn the top of the plant off and it regrows from the root system. That is way I use other types of products. The main one being Grazon. They trans locate to the root system.

You may have to use different products if you do not have the license for any restricted use herbicides. Some of them are not restricted if bought in a low concentration of active ingredient.

Here is a picture of a factory built ATV pasture sprayer. IT sprays 30 feet wide. You have three nozzles and a 12 V pump.

Also if you are in a farming area, many Fertilizer and chemical retailers have Pasture sprayers you can rent for a fee per acre.

First things first. I don't know where you live , so I don't know what laws you are subject to, for pesticide regulation, so I won't preach from a podium if ignorance. Follow local laws, and the label of the pesticide, and you won't get in trouble, as long as it is your own land you are treating.
That brings on the next subject. Granulars work better in some situations, worse in others. You have to compare price per acre, and cost of the application equipment. A small baltic type cone fertilizer spreader puts out granular product very well, at low cost, if you have a tractor to hook it to. Similarly, a small electric sprayer on a ATV does equally well, if set up right.
Either way, you need to calibrate the herbicide applicator, albeit a sprayer or spreader. Google how to calibrate a sprayer if you want to spray, or how to calibrate a spreader, if you go that route. Basic principle is the same, do a small area, measure the area, and the amount applied, and set up a ratio, to see what you are applying on a per acre basis.
Many's the time I have come across bargain herbicides on both granular and liquid products. DO THE MATH!

Actually 2,4-d doesn't kill a whole lot of weeds. You first need to know what weeds you have, then google search the weed name, then add control, for example google "oxe eye daisy control" and you will find out what chemical controls it. Spraying weeds ain't like throwin a hand grenade, pull the pin, and throw!

We use Grazeon and also have used 24D.Milk Weeds can be controlled but need to have contact that can only be achieved by spraying.Both products will kill legumes such as trefoil and alfalfa but wont bother grass.24D is contact killer and has no residual effect.

We have used GrazonNext for several years with excellent results. It is a restricted use herbicide which means you have to have a license to buy it. It kills a wide variety of weeds. The chemical is absorbed through the leaf structure and transmitted to the roots which then die.

Whatever you use be sure to read the label. There will be a "hold" time from when you apply the chemical to when the field can be grazed or cut for forage. That can be important. Be sure to look for that.

You might pay a call on your local ag agent. They can be very helpful.

They work fine, if you can find them. And there is also the issue of placement. Getting the product where you want it. Granular herbicides are usually placed in a band behind the planter. Using a special attachment on the planter. Trying to use a spreader would not work, as the prouduct is light and you couldn't get the spreader to throw it more than 8 or 10' on each side, plus the wind would cause you fits. Putting it in with lime, or fertilizer might work as a spreader, but then it has to be mixed somehow, and then how do you calibrate the whole thing?

Hire the local COOP or farm supply to spray it for you. A few bucks an acre and you have none of the safety issues, or liability issues if it drifts on the neighbors rose bushes.

Gene