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Weeds and soil and what they can tell you
Weeds do not turn up by accident. I know you have been told that they're there because of too little herbicide, or because you didn't pasture improve enough or whatever you didn't buy enough of, but these symptomatic responses are not the whole story, more like part of the problem!
The soil contains a seedbed of many millions of seeds which germinate only when the conditions are right to do so for that particular seed, and this includes what we would term as 'weeds'. Many so called weeds are considered herbs or fodder plants when they appear in the right places, so it's also a matter of perspective.
When the soil is imbalanced or bare, Mother Nature comes to its rescue as fast as she can. She is a modest creature and will always try to cover herself, hence thistles on bare ground. You would not like to be naked to the elements, and neither does She. As the soil returns to balance through sustainable agricultural practices, of which there are many, so the weeds change in response to the changing conditions. These new weeds tell a different story, perhaps that the soil is too anaerobic (especially, for example, if accompanied by large cracks which means Mother Nature is trying to get oxygen to lower levels) or that the soil is copper deficient - hence St John's Wort, which, with its long tap root recycles copper from the lower reaches of the soil to the upper levels of topsoil utilisation.
Yes, I hear you say, but some of these 'weeds' are toxic to our stock. Well, sort out your soil and those weeds won't proliferate. Simple as that. Sparying them on a regular basis without dealing with why they are there, is somewhat counter-productive as all you'll do eventually is force Mother Nature to produce an even lower successional plant, less use to your country or your stock but great news for your herbicide provider....
These are just a few example of the kinds of information about your soil that can be gleaned from the 'weeds' that are growing on it. If you were interested, you could take this observation one step further - what plants do your animals seek out to eat? Animals know better than we do what plants they need to stay healthy which is why mixed pasture, rather than monoculture hay, is so much more beneficial. They will actively seek out plants with the minerals that they need to stay healthy or combat immune challenges. We have lost that association/awareness unfortunately or our health would not be in the parlous state that it is.
A very good book on this subject is "Weeds without Poisons" from Charles Walters of Acres USA. Used with your new interest in weeds as an indicator of your soil health, it will help you to really understand what is going on on your country and enable you to rectify it permanently instead of applying chemical bandaids that mask the symptoms but do nothing to improve the health of the soil. In fact, quite the opposite.
If the "mor(e)on" theory isn't working for you, isn't it time you understood the problem better?
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