N. Tex Grass

[AngusSenorita]

well after this drought we sold all of our cows. We never had good pasture but they always managed to stay fat. I am going to come up with a plan for my dad to use to develop our pastures. We have tried to upgrade our pastures before but it would either not rain or rain too much. We finally got 1 pasture seeded but he turned the cows out on it too soon.

We have 4 pastures and what I am thinking is having 2 summer pastures and 2 winter pastures to use. We also have horses so they need to be able to graze on those pastures too.

What grasses would you recommend for N.Tex (one winter and 1 summer, preferbly native)

Thanks

 

[G&L Cattle]

Coastal bermuda or bahia

 

[cowtrek]

Where in N TX? N TX is a BIG place! Bermuda and bahia have their place, but that isn't necessarily everywhere.

Your best bet would be to check with the local extension and NRCS guys. They can give you local recommendations depending on your soil and climate patterns, as well as your goals. You'll probably have to do a little research on your own, too, because sometimes the recommendations can be shall we say 'pricey'. Ya get what you pay for and grass establishment isn't cheap, but it doesn't HAVE to cost a goldmine either, and some grasses have higher 'upkeep' costs (fertilizer and herbicide) than others. Good luck! OL JR

 

[AngusSenorita]

N. tx is Sherman, Whitesboro to be exact

I was thinking of burmuda or bahia, they both grow well. we just need to time when we plant them and use the right equipment


But what I don't know is if they would survive a mild winter so we are not solely dependant on hay

thanks

 

[Jogeephus]

If you find that you can use bermuda and you sprig your field. Be sure to pack the ground behind it, then repack and repack. In other words, pack it as much as is feasible. I have seen many stand failures due to not packing - usually the failure is blamed on drought. I jury rigged an 18" by 10 foot water pipe and filled it with concrete. I use this to run over the ground at least twice after sprigging. Prior to packing with the pipe I would typically get a piece of a cutting the first year. After I started packing -I got 2 1/2 cuttings.

We have been in a bad drought too. The only thing that has saved me so far has been my Tift 85 fields. This is some fine grass but you may not want it since you got horses. I'm told horse people don't like it - too stemmy :roll: . Shortly though, I think they are going to release a grass called Coast Cross II. This will be like Tift 85 but have a finer leaf. I think they are still testing the cold hardiness of the grass. I'm told its looking good. When they release it, you might want to look into this as well.

You mentioned winter pastures. We have a cow calf operation and we tried this but found it not econmical in our situation since I could not limit graze the fields. The Mommas would eat everything and waste a lot of it. However, I found the Tift 85 is kinda like a bunch grass. Once the final cutting or grazing has been made there is a lot of dirt between the mother plants. We use a grain drill to plant ryegrass and clover on all the fields but the Tift 85 fields do much better. In my opinion, its because of all the bare dirt betwen the plants. A friend has good luck planting oats and rye mix in his fields.

I don't know if this will help you in N. Texas or not. Never been there. Just elaborating on what G&L Cattle said. But I did read somewhere that a university in Texas had gotten 5lb per day with creep on Tift 85. But like Cowtrek said, Texas is a big place.

I will guarantee you one thing, cows will run over several hundred yards of bahia to get to Tift 85 and if you put out 1 roll of Tift 85 and 3 bales of Alicia or Tift 44, the cows will all go to the Tift 85 and it will be the first bale eaten. It is amazing. Of course, it doesn't take much to amaze me :lol:

 

[jw]

Senorita,

I live in the Greenville area. Most of the people around here plant Rye and Oats for winter grazing.

Check with the feed stores in Gainesville or possibly with that place where they do the bull testing that is close to you. You can probably find out what will work best with just a few phone calls.

Good luck.

 

[AngusSenorita]

Thanks I might talk to my dad about planting some Burmuda and tift 85and it sounds like planting winter grass would not be of much help. Now i just need to talk to the CEA about what equip. we would need.

I think we have every thing we need, we might need to rent somethings though

thanks for all your help

 

[Andrew]

Man, that Tifton-85 is EXPENSIVE. I sprigged 30 ac and spent about $7000.00 so far in everything from soil prep to weed spraying and according to the USDA guy, I'm still not finished.

Had I know the high cost, I wouldn't have done it.

Just my 2 Cents (basically all I have left).

Andrew