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Maintaining Weed-free Pastures Improves Soil Health
It should be no surprise that controlling weeds in pastures is an effective and necessary way to improve land and livestock productivity. But a new study by the University of Florida sheds light on what happens when producers control spiny pigweed — and how maintaining clean, weed-free bermudagrass pastures can support soil health and function.
The study, “Weed Encroachment Affects Soil Organic Carbon Stock in Bermudagrass Pastures,” published in 2025 in the Soil Science Society of America Journal, examined the effects of varying levels of spiny amaranth encroachment on the levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) and, ultimately, on the impact of SOC on quality and quantity of available forage.
Soil Organic Carbon: What Does It Do?
First things first: Why is SOC important, what can it do for our pastures and, just as important, what are pastures not doing if they don’t have adequate SOC levels?
“Higher soil carbon and soil organic matter (SOM) have positive relationships with things that we want to improve,” says Courtland Kelly, Ph.D., domain science lead for carbon and ecosystem services, Corteva Agriscience. “Forage production is obviously important to a rancher’s bottom line, but there is this other bucket of benefits that we can call ‘ecosystem services,’ and these include reduced fertilizer runoff, reduced leaching of chemicals, reduced erosion and soil loss.”
In addition, Kelly says, improved SOC and SOM can help improve the structure and porosity of the soil, reducing compaction while boosting water-holding capacity and, ultimately, productivity.
“Our hypothesis was that since bermudagrass has a more fibrous root system, it’s likely better at putting carbon in the soil than the spiny pigweed,” Kelly says. “So if you’re controlling spiny pigweed, you’re putting in more carbon and getting more grass productivity. So we were happy to see there was support for that hypothesis in the trials, and that by maintaining a cleaner, more productive pasture, you’re improving soil carbon levels.”
Controlling Pasture Weeds Pays Off
The study also referenced animal movement and how weed encroachment impacts grazing patterns.
“Once weeds begin to encroach, the animals start to graze a smaller area,” says Scott Flynn, Ph.D., global biology leader with Corteva Agriscience. “This puts more pressure on areas of the field that are productive. By removing the weed pressure, we create a double effect: 1. We get the benefit of soil organic carbon from increased root growth; and 2. We get the benefit of having more productivity on our land, which allows us to maintain our herd with less supplemental feeding.”
Controlling stubborn weeds like spiny pigweed also can have positive effects that show up later in the season.
“There’s an old saying, ‘Grass grows grass,’” Flynn says. “If we have a lot of above-ground plant material out there and it’s able to use the sun to fuel growth rather than being grazed all the way to the ground and relying on the root system for regrowth, producers can graze a little longer or feed hay a little later in the year — and that’s a good thing.”
The bottom line: Controlling weeds like spiny pigweed is one of the best ways to improve soil health in pastures. And that’s where products like DuraCor® herbicide can shine.
“DuraCor is selective, so it’s not going to end up hurting our forage grasses,” Flynn says. “That’s key. It also has good soil residual, so that also helps with the spiny pigweed because it can germinate at different times depending on the environment. By using DuraCor, we make it harder for spiny pigweed to come back and retake those areas.”
Under normal field conditions, DuraCor® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Consult the label for full details. Always read and follow label directions.