grabgrass
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Caustic Burno
Well-known member
I have seen Red River crabgrass do well further north, I tried it and it flopped here.
Now I do have African Star, Alicia , Common Bermuda, Agentine, Pensacola, Parguay Bahia and a few other varities I know I am forgetting.
The point is I wasted a lot of money chasing better forage years ago, here Bahia is King or poor man's coastal.
Friend ask me one time what is the best grass for cattle my response the kind that will grow in my pasture.
You can't fight mother nature if the cow can't stay fat and raise a calf on my grass and hay I am changing the cow not the grass.
Now I do have African Star, Alicia , Common Bermuda, Agentine, Pensacola, Parguay Bahia and a few other varities I know I am forgetting.
The point is I wasted a lot of money chasing better forage years ago, here Bahia is King or poor man's coastal.
Friend ask me one time what is the best grass for cattle my response the kind that will grow in my pasture.
You can't fight mother nature if the cow can't stay fat and raise a calf on my grass and hay I am changing the cow not the grass.
agmantoo
Well-known member
I typically waste some of the calf sales money by buying seed to grow with hopes that I will find something to assist me with the various rotational grazing issues that surface. Seeding Red River crabgrass on bottom land did give me a forage to offer the herd during the typical droughty period from mid July to early September. I am satisfied with the results. For planting a base forage on a start up pasture I study what is growing unattended in the side ditches bordering the roads.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Caustic Burno":3lcfcqzv said:
agmantoo":3lcfcqzv said:
Some of the best advice you can get. We tried a lot of things and, other than some lespedeza I am trying, we look at what grows here and try to enhance it. We tried a little Red River but did not get a good stand as we done it in a drought year.
Kenny-
We had a warm spell and my newly seeded Lespedeza came up
I hope it stays thru the cold spells sure to come
And that the cattle (that won't go for another three weeks) don't eat/stomp it out.
It sure is a pretty, thick stand............ for now.
We had a warm spell and my newly seeded Lespedeza came up
I hope it stays thru the cold spells sure to come
And that the cattle (that won't go for another three weeks) don't eat/stomp it out.
It sure is a pretty, thick stand............ for now.
kenny thomas
Well-known member
I have not looked at mine but the cows are not on it so I guess it will be ok. 65 here today and they are grazing instead of eating the hay.
Crabgrass should be pretty easy to establish. It likes N and it should keep coming back if you let it reseed itself. It is a warm season grass, so it won't help you much Oct.-March. I would guess you could overseed it with annual ryegrass during those months to get some early spring grazing. It will run you about $6 lb. but your only looking at seeding 3-5 lb. per acre.
Where are you located in Illinois?
Where are you located in Illinois?
Douglas
Well-known member
It takes some management to maximize it's benefits. It is a summer annual that has to reseed itself. I use it as a double crop with winter annuals, and rye works better than ryegrass. A light discing once a year make a big different with crabgrass reseeding. Once you have build up a soil bank full of seed a small renovation each year makes the system go best. Works better on sandy land as well. the noble foundation has tons of info on it if you want to google that. Maybe one of the highest quality forage you could find for the summer months. It does need some good rains however.
