• Musk Thistle is UNpalatable to livestock. The thistle plant has sharp, spines so livestock totally avoid these areas and can render pastures and rangelands nearly unusable.
• Musk Thistle invasion causes SEVERE grassland degradation, even moderate infestations can reduces forage yield by 25% or more
• Musk Thistle is frequently found throughout the United States and has the potential of becoming a widespread noxious weed. (*is labeled as such now in Colorado)
• Once Musk thistle invades an area, it is imperative to attack the problem, to combine some cultural control procedures along with targeted chemical applications to kill the plant and stop the seed spread before it becomes a huge, out of control infestation that can render pastures and rangeland useless.

Effective control of Musk Thistle is best undertaken when the weed is small, or when it is in the rosette stage during fall or early spring (see chart below). However, PlainJan's has initiated chemical programs in mid-summer and had excellent results even with 6ft. mature plants.

PlainJan's control program will use herbicides that BOTH kill the Musk Thistle plant (even the BIG ones!) and suppress the seeds. Our on site technicians will assess your site and your immediate expectations to determine just which herbicides best fit your situation.

There are herbicides that are directed at growing Musk Thistle plants, however they cause little or no damage to positive growing grasses in that same area. Directing a tank mixed herbicide to individual plants is our most practical approach. Musk Thistle plants tend to grow in "clumps" where there may be 30-60 plants within a relatively small area, although there may be many single plants growing sporatically throughout a pasture.Our suppression herbicides are favored by dairy farmers because they have no grazing or haying restrictions and have little ill effect on positive grasses growing in those same areas as the Musk Thistle.

PlainJan's has equipment SPECIFIC to Musk Thistle sites. These all terrain vehicles equipped with 55 gal. commercial sprayers will allow our certified technicians to travel over acres of uneven pastureland terrain. Our commercial sprayers have adequate spray pressure & coverage to kill on contact those Musk Thistles AND suppress seeds.