Bermuda grass

[skyeagle]

Has any one, won the battle getting rid of Bermuda grass
if so how. I'm going to try 5 acres in the spring and need
a good plan. I was thinking of using Roundup but don't
have a idea how often to spray. I used Roundup in the garden
area this year and seams to have made it worse.

 

[Beefy]

asphalt works for a little while but it will eventually come back.

 

[skyeagle]

I was told it's going to be a tough battle. I need to improve
my pastures to handle more cattle.

 

[cowboy44]

just curious what type of bermuda are you trying to get rid of and what are you replacing it with.because I will be planting tifton 85 this next spring I know each area has its favorite grass. Here it is the improved bermuda's. The roundup will work but it should have already been applied and killed before frost so you can prepare your seedbed for planting this spring. If you wait till grass puts out in spring and then roundup you will be getting a late start on your new grass, that's how it would work over this way.

 

[Jogeephus]

During growing season, spray 1 gallon of Roundup per acre with a good surfactant plus some Ammonium Sulphate. It will knock the you no what out of it but it will probably have to be sprayed again - and yes it is too late in our area to do it as well.

 

[hurleyjd]

I was told it's going to be a tough battle. I need to improve
my pastures to handle more cattle.

Spend your money on fertizler and lime, get chicken litter if possible. Apply to the existing grass and look at what an improvement you will have. Roundup cost would be in the neighborhood of $65 per acre. Then the cost of plowing and reseeding. You would be out around $200 per acre to improve with a new grass. Next fall start introducing some legumes in your pasture. I thought about erradicating some bahi, then read an article about it producing more forage than costal bemuda when managed properly. It will grow on a more acid soil. The article only recommended 50 pounds of fertilizer to the acre to make a pretty decent hay crop in the spring.

 

[icandoit]

hurlyjd wrote:

Spend your money on fertizler and lime, get chicken litter if possible

How much does lime and chicken litter cost in your area?

Dick

 

[skyeagle]

Boy I don't know what kind of Bermuda it is. It's stemy
and the cattle will not eat it. I can get the chicken litter
for free

 

[hurleyjd]

Boy I don't know what kind of Bermuda it is. It's stemy
and the cattle will not eat it. I can get the chicken litter
for free

Lime is $40 ton spread, chicken litter around $20 spread.
If the bermuda is stemmy it is a good possibility that it is coastal or one of the improved varities. I have never had a problem with cows eating bermuda grass pastures or bermuda hay. Are you sure it is bermuda and not some other grass. Any grass will get stemmy if you let it go to long and not graze it down or cut it. You might try some temperary cross fences and graze about a week at a time in eacn temperary pasture. It is good to move cows when grass is about 4 inchs high. If cows are not forced to eat the grass on the whole pasture then they will revert back to some previous grazed area with short tender grass. That was kindly hard to do in the drought situatuion we were in this year to move on the four inch minimum.

 

[Jogeephus]

Post a picture.

 

[skyeagle]

My camera just will not take a good pic. The Bermuda grass
only gets about 6" high and has thin leaves about every inch along the stem.

 

[Jogeephus]

Get the extension to ID it for you. Could be Tift 44 but I'm not sure if it can grow that far north. If it is, you got some good grass just work on ammending the soil. Tift 44 will not grow tall just dense - and it will produce some impressive yields.

OOPs, I missed something. Stemmy and short. Or stemmy and short because its laying down?

 

[skyeagle]

Well I got the soil test back today pH 7.7 yes this grass
doe's not grow to tall. I put rye in this pasture but it all
died off last summer, got a little dry here too.
Should I just put down some Roundup a few times. But what to plant to crowd what's left .

 

[Jogeephus]

Well you don't need lime and our rye will always die in the summer rain or shine. I'd first id the grass to find out what you got. Call extension. If it is a good bermuda, just add whatever the fertilizer the soil test calls for. If the cows don't eat the frosted mudi grass by spring, burn it off to get rid of excess then apply fertilizer. If it is patchy, proper soil fertility will make it spread. But again, find out what type of grass you are growing to determine if its worth growing.