Johngrass..rollin with the flow

[Banjo]

I have few acres with some Jgrass in it. Its a bit spotty. If I'm gonna have it, might as well have it come in thick. Would be just as good as planting a summer annual I would think.
Any ideas how to make it thicken up and get more coverage? Maybe light disking, doing something to disturb the ground some?

 

[rollinhills]

hang on It won't take long those rhizomes are pretty aggressive.

 

[Tim/South]

Fertilize it. JG spreads both by seed ands stolons.

I read where some hay producers were upset because the Sugar Cane Aphid has adapted to Johnson Grass and was ruining the yield.
If I had an abundance of JG in a mixed grass field I would let it take over and cut it for hay. The biggest problem we have with JG is that it grows faster than the Bermuda, Fescue or Bahia normally used for hay here. JG is sorghum based and makes pretty good cow hay when cut and cured right.

 

[Bigfoot]

I love Johnson grass, and have never done one thing to discourage it. I plant my fair share of suddex every year, and would love to replace it with Johnson grass. It seems to have spread as far, and as thick as it is going to. We're talking about 30 years of letting it spread. It's got it's places where it has a stronghold, but fescue is still king everywhere else. I have often questioned if seed can be purchased.

 

[Rafter S]

Discing it should definitely help, and it doesn't have to be light discing. I've heard ever since I was a boy that the best way to make it grow is to act like you're trying to kill it, and from what I've observed that's true.

 

[JSCATTLE]

My cows won't eat it as hay .. I'm doing my best to spray it .. when it's green they love it ..

 

[Brute 23]

Fertilize and disk it. Makes great hay. Cows love it.

 

[Banjo]

I'm rolling out some hay now that has a lot of Jgrass in it and the cows seem to love it. Got it from my neighbor and it has set out all year and been exposed to a lot of rain all year.
I have fed Jgrass hay in years past that they didn't seem to like....maybe it was to mature.

 

[fenceman]

I love Johnson grass, and have never done one thing to discourage it. I plant my fair share of suddex every year, and would love to replace it with Johnson grass. It seems to have spread as far, and as thick as it is going to. We're talking about 30 years of letting it spread. It's got it's places where it has a stronghold, but fescue is still king everywhere else. I have often questioned if seed can be purchased.

You can buy Johnson grass seed. But you need to check first its listed as a noxious weed in several states.
http://www.pogueagri.com/Johnsongrass.aspx

I often buy early cutting bermuda hay that has Johnson and ryegrass in it. Mostly because it's cheap and so am I.
Sorghum almum is a johnson Sorghum hybrid similar to haygrazer or sudex. I might be WRONG but I thing it will reseed.

 

[pricefarm]

I plowed up a hay feild two years ago that had just a few spots of JG in it and planted orchard grass and clover. This past summer it was about 75% JG. If u can get it cut just as it starts to head out cows love it or at least mine does.

 

[shaz]

It's 70% of my hay crop every year. When you have really dry weather you really start to appreciate Johnson Grass.

 

[Rafter S]

It's 70% of my hay crop every year. When you have really dry weather you really start to appreciate Johnson Grass.

Every have any issues with prussic acid poisoning?? How do you manage it??

Thanks!

Tim

The acid dissipates while the grass is curing. While turning cows in on stressed Johnsongrass is a concern, I've never heard of anyone having problems with the hay, and I've been around it for about 40 years.

 

[greybeard]

It's 70% of my hay crop every year. When you have really dry weather you really start to appreciate Johnson Grass.

Every have any issues with prussic acid poisoning?? How do you manage it??

Thanks!

Tim

The acid dissipates while the grass is curing. While turning cows in on stressed Johnsongrass is a concern, I've never heard of anyone having problems with the hay, and I've been around it for about 40 years.

Prussic acid in hay is very very rare and only happens if the hay wasn't cured. We fed loads of jg hay in the 70s and never had any problems. I've never heard of any problems in this part of the state from prussic acid poisoning from jg hay
But, nitrates are a different story.

Does stressed Johnsongrass hay retain toxic levels of prussic acid (It is still poisonous if fed in hay)? NO. The
toxin does not persist in hay that has been properly cured. Prussic acid levels elevate due to stress and
deteriorate over time. Johnsongrass with high prussic acid levels can be ensiled or harvested for hay with little
fear of poisoning when fed. More information on prussic acid poisoning can be found at:
http://www.aces.edu/anr/forages/FAQs/Fo ... dFrost.php
Does stressed Johnsongrass hay retain toxic levels of nitrates (Is it still poisonous if fed in hay)? YES. Nitrates
do not degrade naturally over time and hay containing high levels of nitrates can pose a risk even after a
significant storage period. If you are concerned about potentially toxic levels of nitrates in harvested forage,
conduct a forage test before feeding. Nitrate toxicity occurs rapidly and often affects several animals
simultaneously that are ingesting the same hay.

http://www.aces.edu/anr/forages/FAQs/do ... SFinal.pdf

 

[shaz]

It's 70% of my hay crop every year. When you have really dry weather you really start to appreciate Johnson Grass.

Every have any issues with prussic acid poisoning?? How do you manage it??

Thanks!

Tim

Not a problem in hay.

 

[Kell-inKY]

This is what I love about CT, great information for people like me.

My 2 fields that used to be soybeans had tons of it last year, and the cattle absolutely love it. I am worried about the poisoning though, any advice for avoiding this? I know they say heat stress and drought are issues, but how do I know when it becomes a problem? Does cutting it stress it also?

Took a chance on buying some crap hay that had mostly JG rolled up in it, they prefer it over the extremely stemmy fescue, seems like it would be the bees knees if I could bale it myself.

I have about decided to plant these 2 fields in crabgrass and let the JG take over as much as possible, it's about the only thing they wanted to be on last year and it literally grows like weeds.

 

[Rajela]

This is what I love about CT, great information for people like me.

My 2 fields that used to be soybeans had tons of it last year, and the cattle absolutely love it. I am worried about the poisoning though, any advice for avoiding this? I know they say heat stress and drought are issues, but how do I know when it becomes a problem? Does cutting it stress it also?

Took a chance on buying some crap hay that had mostly JG rolled up in it, they prefer it over the extremely stemmy fescue, seems like it would be the bees knees if I could bale it myself.

I have about decided to plant these 2 fields in crabgrass and let the JG take over as much as possible, it's about the only thing they wanted to be on last year and it literally grows like weeds.

If you graze it the cows will eat it down to the ground and you will lose it. You want see any JG in a pasture that is grazed heavily.

 

[aaroninga]

I have about 3 acres of heavy Johnson grass, great grazing and my herd always eats it first before fescue or bermuda. My lifetime farmer neighbor said to put them on it at waist high or it'll be too tough. I learned first hand the truth to that and had to bushhog that section.
He aslo advised me let them eat it down before the first hard frost to prevent poisoning. I'll watch it close if we get into a drought and move them if needed.
And it's good hay.
My other buddy about 60 miles away has none and was surprised when I said I wanted mine to come back from winter strong.
I'll graze it from between knee/waist high down to 6-8 inches this year to not loose it.
I also read constantly grazing it to nothing over 2-3 years and it wouldn't survive.

 

[Lazy M]

I love Johnson grass, and have never done one thing to discourage it. I plant my fair share of suddex every year, and would love to replace it with Johnson grass. It seems to have spread as far, and as thick as it is going to. We're talking about 30 years of letting it spread. It's got it's places where it has a stronghold, but fescue is still king everywhere else. I have often questioned if seed can be purchased.

I love it too. Cows eat the hay like candy. I've been told that it is illegal to seed it in KY but have never checked into it.