As winter gives way to spring and fields begin to green up, it is critical to have a plan in place to control weeds before they become a problem. “We see long-term impacts throughout a season that if you don’t get to weeds early, we see residual effects of that later into the season,” says Abe Smith, Corteva Agriscience range and pasture specialist. “This has impacts in terms of seed production or getting additional weed seeds produced if they don’t remove those weeds early in the season.”
Smith says the true benefit of managing weeds in range and pasture is really maximizing the amount of forage that producers have available and the economic benefits play out pretty simply if producers look at pastures as pounds of grass.
“Pounds of grass correlate to pounds of beef at the end of the day,” says Smith. “I have generally used the math that if we remove a pound of weeds through control measures from the pasture, we can put a pound or more of grass back into the pasture.”
John Sparks, who owns and operates a beef stocker business near Paris, Kentucky, understands the value of high-quality pasture since it’s the basis for his operation. “High quality forages are really just foundational for everything in our business,” says Sparks. “It’s just like the health of the cattle. You really don’t have anything if you don’t have a good, healthy calf. And the same is true if you don’t have a good forage. You can’t produce pounds without quality forage and we’re after pounds at the end of the day.”
Sparks purchases 300- to 400-pound bull calves from sale barns throughout Kentucky. Established on-arrival protocols leveraging Zoetis vaccines and anti-infectives, along with strong management and solid nutrition are key to the operation’s success.
“Cattle arrive at one of our locations the same day they are purchased. That’s non-negotiable,” says Sparks. “They are offered soft hay and clean water, along with plenty of room to rest when they arrive. We use our highest quality hay in our receiving program because the first 35 days are the most important time for those calves. The calves may not know what a feed bunk is or a water tank, but they know what a hay bale is.”
“I think it all relates all the way through the whole entire process that you have to start with the quality forage to maintain that healthy animal at the end,” says Scott Birker from Iowa. Birker leverages technology from John Deere to help him harvest high-quality forage to sell and use with his own cow herd.
Getting ahead of weeds and creating a plan early is key when it comes to high quality forage and pasture. Work with your local agricultural retailer or pasture specialist to identify local weed pressures and develop a plan that works for you.
The Grazing and Raising event, hosted by Corteva Agriscience, John Deere and Zoetis, was held during 2026 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
