Johnsongrass

[C & C Land & Catt]

Thank God 4 johnsongrass. It is the only thing still doing good despite the drought. One guy told me his cows wouldn't eat it and I told him to let them choose between a snowball and a bale he might be suprised. I have several jg fields and if u manage them right and bale them right they will do great.

 

[stocky]

Johnson grass makes outstanding hay or pasture. There are some things to be careful about, but there isnt a more valuable summer pasture or sure hay crop in this area.

 

[FROGHOLLOWFARM]

My cows love it too,we baled 70 5x6 rolls off of 8-10 acres about a month ago.The owner was just going to bush hog it, so we got it for free.We were not for sure if we were going to have enough this winter with the lack of rain this spring and early summer.So we were vry glad to get it.Fall cutting looks decent though.

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

This year has shown me that johnson grass is a good way to make it thru a drought if you rotational graze and routinely test the grass for potential poisoning. I would like more of it...does anyone know where to buy the seed. It seems to be outlawed around most places.

 

[john250]

This year has shown me that johnson grass is a good way to make it thru a drought if you rotational graze and routinely test the grass for potential poisoning. I would like more of it...does anyone know where to buy the seed. It seems to be outlawed around most places.

Noxious weed. Many states have laws (unenforced) requiring landowners to control it. Give up on ever growing anything else in that pasture. Cattle will make it dissappear. Remove cattle and wait till next growing season. JG will return. When I was raising corn and beans, that stuff cost me thousands and thousands.

 

[stocky]

Fescue/orchardgrass is an excellent combination with Johnsongrass. The Fescue/Orchardgrass is cool season and you can take a cutting of hay off that before the Johnsongrass comes on. Then, you can take 2-3 cuttings of Johnsongrass. If you pasture it, you dont want to leave enough cattle in the pasture to eat it into the ground all summer, they will kill it out. The easiest way to sow Johnsongrass is to cut it after it has matured and went to seed and then bale it and feed by unrolling the bales. The seed will start an excellent stand. If you have some Johnsongrass, you can lightly disk it and it will scatter the roots and create a better stand. As a new cattle farmer once asked "I have Johnsongrass in my field, what do I do? The reply by the veteran farmer was "Fertilize it heavy". It has also been correctly pointed out that Johnsongrass is very costly to crop farmers.

 

[milesvb]

This year has shown me that johnson grass is a good way to make it thru a drought if you rotational graze and routinely test the grass for potential poisoning. I would like more of it...does anyone know where to buy the seed. It seems to be outlawed around most places.

at the risk of having a contract put on my head by the farmers

try these folks: http://www.turnerseed.com/site/GrassSeed.asp

 

[john250]

Fescue/orchardgrass is an excellent combination with Johnsongrass. The Fescue/Orchardgrass is cool season and you can take a cutting of hay off that before the Johnsongrass comes on. Then, you can take 2-3 cuttings of Johnsongrass. If you pasture it, you dont want to leave enough cattle in the pasture to eat it into the ground all summer, they will kill it out. The easiest way to sow Johnsongrass is to cut it after it has matured and went to seed and then bale it and feed by unrolling the bales. The seed will start an excellent stand. If you have some Johnsongrass, you can lightly disk it and it will scatter the roots and create a better stand. As a new cattle farmer once asked "I have Johnsongrass in my field, what do I do? The reply by the veteran farmer was "Fertilize it heavy". It has also been correctly pointed out that Johnsongrass is very costly to crop farmers.

I assure you, cattle will not kill it out. Not in the short run. It WILL be back next year. Maybe 20 years of heavy grazing, thought I doubt it. If it's all you have, I'd use it too. But you are compromising that land for many years if you encourage JG.
My opinion, your results may differ.

 

[andybob]

As all I am grazing are old, overgrown cotton fields,there is a wide variety of grass and cow vetch, no improved grasses, the cattle head straight for the Johnson grass every time,and have re-grazed the paddock behind the house so many times, thatit has not come back despite the recent good rains.

 

[stocky]

John250, that is true, results can be different in different areas. Here, you can kill out the johnsongrass in one summer if you have the cows in the pasture all summer and do not let it go to seed. The cows would rather have the johnsongrass than any other grass in the field and they will keep it eat into the ground as it comes up. There will only be scattered sprigs the next year. It has to be treated similar to most of the warm season grasses. If you have a good stand of fescue/orchard grass and you have a good stand of johnsongrass, normally you can at least double your hay production with the cutting of fescue and 2-3 cuttings of johnsongrass. If I pasture it, I let the johnsongrass get close to waist high and then turn in on it and the cows never eat it into the ground, treat it like sudan grass. This has been a real bad drought, but people are still cutting johnsongrass in the creek and river bottoms.

 

[Proverbs 12:10]

This year has shown me that johnson grass is a good way to make it thru a drought if you rotational graze and routinely test the grass for potential poisoning. I would like more of it...does anyone know where to buy the seed. It seems to be outlawed around most places.

at the risk of having a contract put on my head by the farmers

try these folks: http://www.turnerseed.com/site/GrassSeed.asp

Thanks Miles for having the biggest coconuts...I'll check it out.

 

[LibertyIIE]

I like the stuff. My cows love the stuff. My wife hates the stuff as her dad was a cottonfarmer and made her chop and dig the roots as a young girl. I threatened to plant some on some old crop land but got an absolute NO!

 

[VAStocker]

JG is great for dry weather when every thing else is dryng up you can count on your JG to still be green. But the downer is if you ever have to get rid of it. IT IS THE DEVIL TO KILL!! Had a pasture in the back of the farm that had right much Johnson Grass in it I was going to re plant the field in wheat and clover mix and graze winter stockers the JG just got more prevalant I got to talking to some old timmers that told me the roots on JG can grow 20-30 foot deep and the only way they knew to kill it was to spray with round-up and burn it.

 

[tytower]

I got to talking to some old timmers that told me the roots on JG can grow 20-30 foot deep and the only way they knew to kill it was to spray with round-up and burn it.

Only way it would get roots like that is if it grew down a bank and it would grow grass all the way down . Why do you post such ****?