Removing One Pound Of Weeds Can Result In 1.5 Pounds Of Grass

For ranchers and cattle producers interested in improving their ROI, one of the best places to start is with the weeds in your fields. Abe Smith, Range and Pasture Specialist with Corteva Agriscience says NovaGraz, which was unveiled in early 2025, is an herbicide enabling cattle producers to preserve white clover and annual lespedeza while going after problem broadleaf weeds.

He added even if you don’t have white clover, NovaGraz has several other distinct advantages.

“The opportunity to have a non-residual product that is short-lived, it doesn't hang around long in the soil, which has a benefit that people are kind of looking for," Smith said. "They maybe don't want some of the heavy-duty chemistry that has longer residuals out there. And that is actually an improvement over what many folks would do maybe with a simple 2, 4-Ds or a simple tank mix of 2, 4-D Dicamba.”

Learn From 2026 And Prepare For 2027

Smith noted that grass is lowest cost feed source for producers and for every pound of weeds eliminated, operators can get back up to a pound and a half of grass. And as producers start to look ahead to fall and eventually 2027, Smith said NovaGraz can help producers take care of pasture lands before another drought takes place.

“You do the things that you can to build up that grass," Smith said. "So, in our geography that might be doing a little bit of fertility work, trying to make sure that grass is well-rooted, and you're getting some of the tonnage. But when that adversity strikes, when the drought strikes, that plant is more able to take on some of those adverse conditions. It's deeper rooted, has access to some of those whatever moisture may be still be left there and the nutrients as well.”