Kill perilla mint in your pastures before it can do the same to your herd. Trust in DuraCor® herbicide to remove tough weeds that threaten your operation.
Perilla mint (Perilla frutescens), also known as beefsteak plant, is an annual broadleaf weed. It has a distinctive mint scent, dark-green to purplish square stems and serrated leaves with a purple tint. Mature plants reach 3 to 3.5 feet tall and produce small, white to purple flowers. Once it becomes established, perilla mint produces many seeds and large colonies can develop in coming years.
Native to Asia, perilla mint was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant. While it is mainly found in pastures in the Southeast, it can be found encroaching pastures in the Northeast and Midwest .
Perilla mint thrives in late summer, when pastures are frequently dry and forage is more scarce — which can lead to an increase in consumption. It typically grows in shaded areas along creeks, the edges of wooded areas and in fence rows, but it can expand across pastures.
It’s critical for your herd’s health to control perilla mint. It contains ketones that cause acute respiratory distress syndrome in cattle, other ruminants and horses. It also remains toxic in dried hay. Animals begin to develop symptoms — including shallow and rapid breathing, grunting noises and foaming of the mouth — in 24 hours. Once symptoms begin, therapeutic treatment is often ineffective; the best option for preventing illness is an effective weed control program.
Don’t wait to manage this weed until you have toxicity problems with this weed. The optimum time to scout for and control perilla mint is early summer when the plants are small. It is more difficult to control in the late summer and early fall when it becomes even more toxic to livestock. Treat it with 16 fluid ounces of DuraCor® herbicide per acre. Increase the rate as weeds become more mature. While DuraCor has no grazing restrictions, it’s important to keep cattle out of the pasture following treatment because cattle are more likely to graze the plant when it’s withering.
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™ ® Trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. Under normal field conditions, DuraCor® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.
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