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Remove Weeds to Grow the Herd
Golden Age Farm uses herbicides and rotational grazing to drop weed counts and grow its Wagyu herd. Read about how pasture management pays dividends on this beef cattle operation.
With rolling hills of abundant green-grass pastures settled on a limestone basin, Golden Age Farm will catch the attention of anyone passing by. Mixes of orchardgrass, ryegrass, winter wheat, and valuable legumes command the landscape and feed Wagyu cattle on the Lexington, Kentucky, farm.
Evaluating what’s beneath the soil, though, set in motion a series of pasture improvements that make Golden Age Farm what it is today. Within six months of arriving at the farm, manager Chris Jackson doubled the herd size to about 400 head by analyzing soil samples and implementing pasture weed control and intensive grazing.
“People notice that the farm is a lot greener earlier in the spring,” Jackson says. “Even with the dry summers we’ve had, people make comments like ‘Wow, the farm’s greener and you’re grazing longer into the fall.’”
The main pasture management goal at the farm is to be as close to weed-free as possible so the grass, in turn, works for the operation. The initial soil samples showed the acres were made up of 60% to 70% grass compared with weeds. After two years of intensive management, those fields are filled with 90% grass and not nearly as much weed competition.
“We dropped the weed count by enacting pasture rotation where cattle had to eat what they were given in the space they were in,” Jackson says. “If you turn 100 cows out on 50 acres and leave them there for two weeks, they’re going to eat; but they’re not going to eat everything. We split fields into four increments and rotated cattle to keep grass in the growing stage and keep weeds from producing seed heads. We also sprayed the whole farm with GrazonPD3 herbicide, and it did a really good job controlling the broadleaf weeds.”
The first spring, Jackson says, they needed to spray the whole farm; but by the following year, he was able to be more selective and spot-spray with DuraCor® herbicide.
“When you double the herd size and you don’t reseed or spray the pastures to eliminate the weed coverage, you don’t get the full potential the land can offer,” Jackson says. “We’re almost at the point where we have more grass than our cattle can graze.”
Jackson tries to have at least a month’s rest on a field before bringing cattle back onto it.
“You have a lot of inputs going out on the grass,” Jackson says. “You’re taking a lot from the fields, but you’re not putting a lot back.”
In the future, Jackson plans to use NovaGraz™ herbicide to preserve white clover and its soil fertility benefits.
“If I could keep all the white clover and get rid of thistles, my day would be made,” Jackson says. “To us, white clover and legumes are important to our cattle nutrition in the pastures and the health of the fields.”
For the health of the farm, it’s important to think long-term, whether that’s six months, a year, two years or more down the road. Even while the operation is growing at a rapid pace, Jackson continues to focus on how he can continue to improve the farm, the grass and the cattle.
“If you look at purchasing land around here, the cost of not controlling weeds in pastures can decrease the value of the land. And it also decreases your stocking rate. So it affects your bottom line day in and day out,” Jackson says. “Whether you use herbicides, intensive grazing or clip your pastures, you can eliminate or reduce those weeds. You get more grass growth. You can run more cattle or livestock. And that land becomes more productive.”
Jackson is proud of the growing facilities at Golden Age Farm, and he credits the pasture improvement to collaboration with local Extension agents and his local retail cooperative, who in turn work with the Corteva Range & Pasture Specialist in that area.
“You don’t have to have world-renowned facilities to be able to do this,” Jackson shares. “You just have to set goals, make a step-by-step process, and follow the steps that work for you. Not every process works for everybody, so be open-minded.”
As American Wagyu beef producers, Golden Age Farm wants its product to have the most flavor and tenderness of any Wagyu beef in the world.
“Our main focus is to produce the best beef in the world,” Jackson says. “We’re striving for that, so we have to do the same on the farm too. We want to continue to be good stewards and improve the land.”
GrazonPD3™ is a Restricted Use Pesticide. 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 and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. Consult the label for full details. White clover and annual lespedeza exhibit some initial injury (such as lodging and loss of vigor) but recover. DuraCor and NovaGraz™ are 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. GrazonPD3™ is not for sale, distribution or use in Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York State. Always read and follow label directions.
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