Buttercup - An indicator or a problem?

Multiple management approaches to a widespread beautiful Louisiana invasive pasture plant.

Driving around Louisiana pastures in Jan-March, you’ll see lots of pastures dominated by the plant Charles Allen recently wrote about: Hairy buttercup, Pasture Buttercup, or Crowfoot (Ranunculus sardous). This is an introduced herbaceous annual.

Allen describes the plant as having “hairy and has dissected leaves. The flowers are regular, with three to five green sepals and five showy yellow petals. The stamens and pistils are numerous, and the fruit is an achene that is usually produced in globose clumps.”

Although the yellow pastures are beautiful in regards to scenery from the road, this is a plant often considered problematic in cattle grazing operations. Charles Allen wrote “The plants are reported to be bitter and poisonous and thus are not eaten by cattle and other livestock, which makes them end up plentiful in our pastures.” 

Buttercup Issues in Pastures

Ed Twidwell, Extension Forage Specialist from LSU AgCenter lent his advice regarding buttercup ID and management in the below statements. 

“One sign that spring has arrived is when you observe a sea of yellow flowers in pastures across the state. These yellow flowers are from a winter annual weed called buttercup. This weed emerges in the fall, grows through the winter and blooms in the spring. It is known for producing large amounts of seed which can remain viable in the soil for many years.

Buttercup tends to flourish in pastures with poor stands of desirable forage plants. Overgrazing pastures in the fall can lead to buttercup infestations. In addition, buttercup plants prefer wet and compacted soils.  Maintaining some type of cover, such as planting annual ryegrass or other grass-clover mixtures will provide competition to the buttercup and help to minimize buttercup infestations.

For control of buttercup, mowing or clipping pastures close to the ground in the early spring before the plants can produce seed may help reduce new seed production. However, clipping alone probably will not totally eliminate seed production.

For chemical control, LSU AgCenter scientists have performed many studies on buttercup control, and have found that applying 1 pint of 2,4-D herbicide per acre during the months of December or January provide excellent control of buttercup. Making a herbicide application during this time will also minimize damage to any white clover that is present.  Herbicide applications made during the spring months will require higher rates of 2,4-D to be effective in controlling buttercup, and these rates will also cause more damage to any clovers that are present.

If you begin to observe buttercup showing up in your pastures, it is a good idea to try and control them in some manner as they compete with your desirable forages for light, water and nutrients. If left uncontrolled, they can take over a pasture in a short amount of time.”

Thinking Outside the Box

And then, there are others who like to think about weed management in pastures in a different way. Sheep producers who have watched their sheep graze in early spring know that sheep will almost prefer to nibble the buttercup over other species. Others who have minimized tilling and maximized rest and rotation have reported having less to no buttercup in pastures managed in that manner. 

Laura Brenner, Sr. Content Writer at Noble Research Institute wrote an article about weed management regarding ragweed. This article is about mindsets on pasture management in a regenerative way using bale grazing, multi-species grazing, and a holistic look at weeds as an indicator of a larger problem. Western Ragweed is not buttercup, but the concept and principles are the same.

“Ranchers who find themselves faced with an abundance of ragweed [buttercup] may be initially inclined to grab a quick fix from the feed store shelf. But Moseley advocates for a different approach — a shift in management practices.”

“Ragweed is an indicator of something else going on,” says Moseley. He says the idea of managing for what you want in your pastures, rather than focusing on what you don’t want to see out there, is a challenging concept for a lot of ranchers. 

Regarding a pasture that was inundated with the weed, Brenner quotes “It was ragweed for a while,” Moseley said of the field. ‘Paul AMP grazed it with cattle. He had sheep and goats he would bring through, too. He used no herbicides, no more fertilizer, and he just used quick, multispecies flash grazing and recovery.’

A couple of years later, Moseley says the field looks totally different.’We recently taught Noble Land Essentials out there in October, and it is a lot of grass now, a lot of diversity,’ he says.

“A significant shift in disturbance pressure is just one example of how ragweed may indicate a missing link in the ecosystem. Another common cause of ragweed pressure in pasture, especially among cattle producers, is overgrazing.”

“While there’s no single solution that will work for everyone, Moseley says animal impact and adequate recovery are essential components to restoring pastures. Rest and recovery during the growing season, to allow the other plants to express themselves, are essential to restoring diversity and balance to your pastures.“

“If adding small ruminants isn’t feasible, Moseley suggests bale grazing over the top of your ragweed site in the dormant season.”

The full article from Noble reflects also what we heard from Allen Williams in our 2023 bus tour of BDA Farm in Alabama- allowing weeds to be an indicator, and simply better your management and grazing until the land replenishes itself. 

https://www.noble.org/regenerative-agriculture/pasture-and-range/why-ragweed-isnt-the-problem/?utm_campaign=nr_031026&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ODtpOr06mkZpCu2TAeUbIQFiSrFD8Ob1LY6eoV1AanZ_XQIiSlnnr-1wbSZlVsHwMlonamhnzu3uPQA3I3LmezfViVg&_hsmi=407960634&utm_source=hubspot