Crabgrass 2016

[OldCrow]

I plan to use wheat instead of rye. How do you plant the rye ? I was curious if the notill drill was enough tillage for the crabgrass or additional tillage was needed.

I no till. I'm sure it helps although I feel like more should be done but we have clay soils over most of the field and it is hard to get proper tillage without commiting to 2-3 passes with a disc. The more pulverizing of the top 2" the quicker and better the stand has been my experience. For example I know here once you do your garden and it is pulverized a rain comes within a couple of weeks there will be a great stand of crabgrass exactly where you don't won't it :x This tends to make me believe if you could do the same in the hay field a stand would be established much quicker. It will be the end of June before I get close to cutting it, maybe even the first of July. I think this would occur faster if it were disced. :2cents:

 

[Hickory40CC]

I am glad to hear most of y'all ain't seeing much CG yet. I know that sounds mean...but that's not what I meant. I also broadcasted a mixture of 3 lbs. RR and 1 lb Q&B per acre with sand as a carrier back in December...and some in February. I had the cows tread it in. Here it is May 23rd, and I'm JUST now seeing crabgrass emerge IN PLACES. I've been pretty concerned, but I remember last summer (the first year I had it) that it didn't really come on good until mid-June. I love the stuff! The best beef I've ever had/tasted in my life came from cattle that grazed it all summer. I was always a guy that believed you just HAD to grain-feed cattle on dry-lot to make em taste good...I now know that ain't so. I got nervous last year and stay in touch with Mr. Dalrymple out in Thomas, OK. He told me that he once turn cows onto 10" of CG on May 26th...can't remember if it was RR or QB, but that was the best he'd ever done. When it's been cool like this year...it'll be later than usual...I sure am getting impatient!

 

[MikeBo]

In southern Missouri the last 10 days my crabgrass has boomed.

 

[Kell-inKY]

June 16th, not much sign of crabgrass still.

I now have acres of wild white clover where I didn't disc for wheat. It's bizarre, I should take a picture, it's choking out weeds! Where I did my discing for wheat and crabgrass, hardly any clover.

Also have an insane amount of lespedeza. The cows love it but it's pretty short, but the quantity blows my mind. These are the 2 fields I pretty much let run wild last year after coming off of soybeans, almost 20 acres total.

Not much sign of Johnsongrass either, I see tons of it on the roadside, just not where I had it last year? Very strange year.