So last year I was really frustrated by the amount of thistle in my pasture. It was taking over and driving me crazy.
I have been fighting such a battle with dog fennel this year that it didn’t even occur to me that I had way less thistle this year than in previous years. And what thistle I did have didn’t hang around long, it flowered and died pretty quickly whereas before it would be in the pasture right up till fall/winter. I did apply lime this year which raised my soil PH. Looks like there could be something to this PH thing after all.
I don’t want to pay 1000 dollars for lime every year but rotational grazing is supposed to help greatly with soil PH. Since this is our first year there isn’t supposed to be a huge turnaround but within a few years I should see my PH in a good range without the application of lime. By next year we should have double the stocking density and should really be able to start trampling some grass and building carbon. With even more fertility, maybe the thistle will be a thing of the past and even this dog fennel will go away. One can always hope.