Considering Your Grazing, Haying, and Silage Options for Herbicide-treated Corn and Soybean

Published: July 19, 2012

With the drought we are currently experiencing in Missouri and throughout much of the Midwest, many farmers are starting to consider using at least some portion of their corn and soybean crop for livestock feeding purposes. Before making this decision, one of the most important considerations is the forage and feeding restrictions of the herbicides that have already been sprayed for weed control in these fields. In other words, it will be critical to know the waiting period that must be followed between application of a given herbicide and the grazing or harvesting of that crop for use as a forage. Tables 1 and 2 contain this information for some of the most common herbicides utilized for weed management in corn and soybeans in Missouri. In corn, the majority of herbicide labels allow for some type of grazing or forage use following application. As illustrated in Table 1, corn herbicide forage restrictions may vary from as little as 0 to as many as 60 days after application. In soybeans however, most of the product labels DO NOT allow soybeans to be grazed or harvested for forage or hay following herbicide application, so it will be critical to consult the individual product label of the herbicide(s) applied before deciding to utilize this crop as a forage.