MIG Grazing Crabgrass

[Bigfoot]

The drought of 2012, pretty much wiped out some of my fescue. I got a good rain, that broke the drought, and just exploded crabgrass in the bare spots. It pretty much got me through, till fall. I had never really pursued crabgrass. I have planted red river, and either got a poor stand, or couldn't tell it from my volunteer. I started tinkering around, with promoting it. I do that, by burning down the field, and then running over it with a disc a few times. I then get busy, keeping broadleaves out. I don't know what level of success I have had, but the experiments have turned out better than my Bermuda grass experiments.

I rotate 5 horses, and follow them with about 1500 pounds of stockers. I started following the horses with stockers, because the horses would overgraze a spot, and not touch others. I get the horses off, before. They kill a spot, and then throw the calves on. They clean up the grass, that the horses ignore. The 5 horses, and 4 calves rotate through a shade over 4 acres. It's like 4.15. I included some pics, and a time line. It's all dependent on rain, and nitrogen. I have put very little N on these 4 acres. It got about 200 pounds of ammonia nitrate, just as crabgrass was making its appearance. I probably should do a soil test. I probably should do a lot of things I'll never get done to.

It's a little too labor intensive for me while I'm working to do this with my cow herd. I retire soon enough, and might give it a shot. Wish I had an area like this big enough to hold all my cows July and August. Just let the fescue sit and recover. Pipe dream, I know, but I've wanted a warm season grass to work for me for a long time now. Might as well pick one, that seeds itself, and grows on poor ground.

The firs are intermingled with some of my native bermuda, johnsonvrass, and crabgrass. 90% of the forage production is crabgrass, would be my guess.

I posted this, I guess I can stand any comment that comes my way.

ENJOY!

Last grazed June 2nd. Heading here with them tomorrow.


Pulled off this Sunday before church


Pulling off this tomorrow morning

 

[ddd75]

looks like you need a faster rotation.

 

[HDRider]

looks like you need a faster rotation.

Can you even damage crabgrass eating it down too short?

 

[Bigfoot]

When I first started, I was leaving it much taller. It seems to thicken more, and grow faster this way. It makes like white stem, is the only way I know to describe it. If you let it get big enough to do that, they seem to lose intrest in it. I couldn't argue that grazing it short is the way to go. It seems to produce more this way.

 

[Bigfoot]

I forgot to add, after the move, I will have one of my kids run the lawn mowe over it. That's really not practical in a pasture setting. It gets it all uniform for the regrowth, so none of it gets too mature on me.

 

[Sd1030]

Im been thinking about incorprating it in my pastures. My question is how would it do if its incorprated with fescue and other cool seasons grasses. My thoughts are it will pick up and provide nutrtion in the summer months when the fescue goes dormant. Me and sky have talked about this some and he seems to really push a good field of fescue, which i fully understand. Im just curious if you mixed crabgrass and fescue would you get a cool season/warm season pasture in one?

 

[u4411clb]

I am guessing I am the only one. But I see some streaks of crab grass the darker grass with the purple tint in the first picture and I see the couple leaves of johnson grass but the majority of that grass does not look like crab grass to me I could be wroong though. Does it grow in clumps from a base with a star like pattern and runners? That is what I expect from crab grass but I guess this could be a different variety.

 

[Bigfoot]

Im been thinking about incorprating it in my pastures. My question is how would it do if its incorprated with fescue and other cool seasons grasses. My thoughts are it will pick up and provide nutrtion in the summer months when the fescue goes dormant. Me and sky have talked about this some and he seems to really push a good field of fescue, which i fully understand. Im just curious if you mixed crabgrass and fescue would you get a cool season/warm season pasture in one?

IMHO, its hard to get a cool season, and a warm season to work together. I can only grow one or the other, in one location. I can put a cool season like rye on top of a warm season. That works fine. They eat the rye down, in time for the crabgrass to come out. Fescue would shade the crabgrass. Kinda like you have crabgrass in your yard if you cut it too short. You don't have crabgrass, if you leave the fescue yard long.

 

[Bigfoot]

I am guessing I am the only one. But I see some streaks of crab grass the darker grass with the purple tint in the first picture and I see the couple leaves of johnson grass but the majority of that grass does not look like crab grass to me I could be wroong though. Does it grow in clumps from a base with a star like pattern and runners? That is what I expect from crab grass but I guess this could be a different variety.

There is a little common bermuda in all three pictures, some johnson grass in the pic at the top, and what I call crabgrass in all three. Our common bermuda doesn't do much.

 

[BC]

To make crabgrass really work you have to occasionally disturb the soil. That is why letting it g to seed in late August or September and then disking to plant cereal rye or ryegrass (or other cool season annuals) in the fall works well.

 

[Sd1030]

Thanks for the input, the yard scenario made sense bigfoot. Also just to be clear in regards to my reference to skys thoughts through didcussions we have had i was not disagreeing with him. I was just curious as to how crabgrass worked in the scenario i gave.

 

[skyhightree1]

Thanks for the input, the yard scenario made sense bigfoot. Also just to be clear in regards to my reference to skys thoughts through didcussions we have had i was not disagreeing with him. I was just curious as to how crabgrass worked in the scenario i gave.

Stop arguing with me and just plant fescue/cinnamon clover... case closed We are kidding no one get mad im not picking on him.

 

[HDRider]

Thanks for the input, the yard scenario made sense bigfoot. Also just to be clear in regards to my reference to skys thoughts through didcussions we have had i was not disagreeing with him. I was just curious as to how crabgrass worked in the scenario i gave.

Stop arguing with me and just plant fescue/cinnamon clover... case closed We are kidding no one get mad im not picking on him.

There you go again... :yuck: :yuck:

 

[anewcomer]

Do some research on R.L. Dalrymple and/or the Noble Foundation regarding crabgrass.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

These pictures are about a week old. Normally don't have the kind of rain we had this year, so the wheat was late maturing and the crabgrass growth is a little ahead. Late hail storm altered the plans of cutting this place. This is common crabgrass.




Same place, swathed this about 3 or 4 weeks earlier to help clean it up (late because of the rain), and then it sat there for the same reason. The bare areas are where the swaths laid.

 

[HDRider]

To make crabgrass really work you have to occasionally disturb the soil. That is why letting it g to seed in late August or September and then disking to plant cereal rye or ryegrass (or other cool season annuals) in the fall works well.

Gave me an idea, not really my idea, but... Run the cattle real dense and tear the crap out of the ground.

 

[Kell-inKY]

Very informative post,
I've got about 4-5 acres that had soybeans on it last fall so I could not plant fescue. This summer I have a ton of crabgrass and other "weeds". The cows absolutely love crabgrass and eat it down to the nub in the other pastures. Last night I I let them out on this field to experiment, I intend to plant fescue/orchadgrass this fall on it but after reading this I am wondering what to do.

I saw them happily eating this morning but I will check progress tonight, but I am assuming I need to mow this down for it to be more palatable? It is really high TALL now, and I have no idea where so many seeds came from in this field (the other row crop field I am converting barely has any?). This field has been sprayed with roundup for years, apparently that is good fertilizer for weeds as it is covered up with them. I didn't even notice it growing until a month or so ago when it blew past the mare's tail and ragweed.

Will it still seed itself if I mow it shorter? What about my cool season planting this fall, will it out compete the fescue, or vice versa eventually? Any thoughts on the direction I should take? My cattle won't touch fescue in the summer, they will eat all the crabgrass and clover and then holler at me to move them before even sniffing the fescue. This could be my go-to summer field if I end up going this route, then maybe plant some winter forage on a few acres of it like turnips? I just don't fully understand the seeding process and how this all got there in such quantities, or how I should manage it if I want to go that direction?

Maybe this has something to do with all the rain, I have more grass than ever, I could easily handle 10 more head right now if I could afford it.

 

[M-5]

crab grass will seed if you let it. the seed will lay dormant for quite sometime. Most likely the crabgrass was in the soybeans and seeded out. crab grass is a summer forage it will not be a factor in the cool season

 

[Kell-inKY]

What I mean to say is, if I mow the crap out of it will it still go to seed quick enough?

I have never seen it this tall because I have never just let a field go like this one, and it is huge, looks nothing like my lawn crabgrass. I kind of doubt the cattle will be interested in the really tall stuff, it looks really stemmy? I am thinking I will mow it short like suggested earlier, yet I still want to allow it enough time to go to seed.

 

[Bigfoot]

doesnt exactly sound like crabgrass, but it might be. Lots of other mimic grasses out there. I actually like some of them better (for hay anyway). My crabgrass has no trouble going to seed, as we get closer to fall. Infact, it would actually be hard to keep it from going to seed.

Edit to add:
I have a little bulldozing done every other year. I get excellent stands of volunteer crabgrass everywhere the dozer goes. Makes me think the seeds can stay dormant for a very very long time.