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White clover key to grazing success
Loyd Dodson is a big believer in letting his cattle feed themselves off the land rather than feeding them extra hay and haylage throughout the summer. Dodson runs Dodson Ranch in Coushatta, Louisiana, a cow-calf and hay operation that has been in his family since 1872, with cattle on the ranch since 1988.
“The object is – and you’ll see this all over the country – let the cows feed themselves from what you’re raising in the dirt rather than bringing something else in,” Dodson explains. “If you have to give them more, it will impact your pocketbook. That’s why we try to keep the competition away from the white clover.”
Having his cattle rotational graze on white clover is what Dodson prefers, and he overseeds fields on a regular basis to ensure cattle have access to this nutritious legume that helps improve cow performance and increase rate of gain on calves and stockers.
“If the white clover is good, that cow will be milking like a Holstein and that makes that steer yearling she has on her side grow. Come spring, he’ll be weighing 650-700 pounds,” he says. “Nothing makes a cow milk, in my opinion, like white clover. If you have that calf on the ground in October, you can sit back and drink your sweet tea and watch him grow.”
But there is plenty of competition from buttercup, thistle, goat weeds and many others on Dodson’s 1,800-acre property. While he believes rotation helps with weed control, spraying the paddocks is the best way to manage them. In the past, this was done with caution, as most available herbicides killed white clover along with the unwanted weeds.
“We’ve had problems keeping the competition away but allowing the white clover to keep coming back,” Dodson continues. “I really think that NovaGraz is going to be a game changer for everybody in our part of the world who has been scared to spray pastures because of killing the white clover. That has been challenging for everybody.”
Dodson used NovaGraz for the first time on 300 acres in 2025, with some urging from Ronald Strahan, Ph.D., Louisiana State University. Dodson purchased enough product to spray 300 acres and was able to do 200 acres before it rained. He sprayed the remaining 100 acres later. Despite the two different spray times, Dodson was excited by the results – so much so that he plans to spray more of his farm with NovaGraz in 2026.
“I’m proud of those 200 acres and we’re going to spray at least 900 acres next year,” he adds. “We’re going to be really vigilant on getting started early next year when the buttercups are just starting to flower as we want to knock them back when they are young.”
Dodson believes others will understand why NovaGraz ™ is a game-changer once they see the amount of white clover in their fields.
“The more grass you grow and the less weeds there are, the more you have for your cows to eat. If all you have is grass or legumes, then you can run another cow per acre. That will pay for the cost of the chemical,” Dodson explains. “You’re going to spend money one way or the other feeding your cattle. It’s a lot easier to open a gate and let the cows go out there than it is to have a hay truck pull up to the yard.”
Visit NovaGraz.us/ByTheNumbers to learn more about NovaGraz herbicide.
White clover and annua lespedeza exhibit some initial injury (such as lodging and loss of vigor) but recover. NovaGraz 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. Always read and follow label directions.