New Project

[Jogeephus]

That's hard to say but I would feel pretty good if I see one every 2-3 feet. There will always be some that were planted deeper but not too deep that will stick their heads up late. But it really just depends on how weed free you can keep it. When they start running the growth is simply amazing and one mother plant can cover a large area. If the runners spread say 12 feet then odds are the first six feet will also set some mother plants. The depth of the mother plant's roots will also determine whether it survives the winter and is one reason you should leave about six inches height for insulation going into the fall. I guess it all goes back to rainfall and weed control.

 

[novaman]

This stuff sounds like an amazing plant. Never heard of such a thing before. Bet it's pretty neat to watch it progress in its growth. Does it yield pretty well once established?

 

[Jogeephus]

This stuff sounds like an amazing plant. Never heard of such a thing before. Bet it's pretty neat to watch it progress in its growth. Does it yield pretty well once established?

It truly is an amazing plant. When I first considered messing with it I heard nothing but bad stuff about it from our local hay producers. I heard everything from it was too stemmy and would kill horses to you couldn't get it to dry. It wasn't until I got to know Lee did I get the true picture of what it could do and I followed his advice and glad I did. According to him and the research it is more digestible than any other bermuda I can grow. I think its like 20% more digestible. So if I understand this correctly, this means that if you have some alicia and t-85 that both runs the same protein the t-85 will still be more nutritious so it would be more like 14%. This may not be exactly right but its the way I understand it. What I do know for certain is if you put out four rolls of regular bermuda and one roll of t-85 the cows will wad up around the t-85 before they will touch the other hay. What really sold me was watching 200 brood cows on 200 acres eat it all summer while my friend continued to cut hay in 50 acre blocks all summer. The stuff will defintitely grow. I've run my own experiments on T-44, coastal and alicia fields where I gave them the same fertilizer as the 85 and I will normally get 4 rolls per acre on these and 5 rolls on the t-85 in 28 days.

Of course all that glitters is not gold and t-85 does have its weaknesses. The first is its feed requirments. I guess you can compare it to a high bred cow, if you don't care for it properly and give it the feed it needs its potential will not be maximized. Also, since it does have a heavier stem it does require an extra day to dry but since you will probably be rolling an extra roll I don't know if the stem is all to blame for this. Of course if you wan't something to bale easy go with the t-44. Cut it in the morning, go eat lunch and bale after lunch but what have you got?

Not sure if this is good or bad but I've learned than many of our local hay guys don't like it cause t-85 will tell on you if you try to pass it off as "horse quality hay" after you've allowed it to grow 40 days. Unlike t-44 or alicia where you can bale 8-10 rolls of rank hay per acre and pass it off as "quality" stuff - t-85 will tell on you right quick. This also explains why my calving rate improved when I stopped buying the quality stuff these guys were peddling.

One last thing that no one mentions is since it has these mother plants scattered all over the field there is a lot of bare dirt between them than makes an excellent compettion free seedbed for things like clover and ryegrass. My germination rate and stand density of winter annuals planted in these fields is always much better than any other fields I have.

In all its a great plant and used in the right proportion it is a wonderful grazing and hay option. I definitely wouldn't want 100% coverage in it unless I sold hay. For me, about 20% coverage is gracious plenty.

 

[CJohnson]

Why would you not want more than 20%? Do you stockpile it for winter grazing?

 

[Jogeephus]

Why would you not want more than 20%? Do you stockpile it for winter grazing?

Stockpiling doesn't work that well here due to our wet winters. For brood cows the t-85 just produces so much forage in such a short period of time its hard to keep grazed or cut. Makes about 8.5 tons in 5 months. If I was stockering during the summer or in the hay business it would be different. What I try to do is maximize my months of grazing by having a variety. Bahia being the backbone. I raise the T-85 for feed purposes and will graze it if I get in a tight or if I want to develope replacements.

 

[alisonb]

Jogee - I found it interesting that Superkweeks, as we call them here, (K11, Tifton 44, 78, 85) were developed in the USA by crossing coastal bermuda with a grass found in South Africa called 'kweek' . You just cannot iradicate 'kweek' without using weedkiller.
Once you have established the pasture, how many years of utilisation are we looking at?
Here is a link that is quite informative. http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/tifton85.htm

 

[Jogeephus]

Once you have established the pasture, how many years of utilisation are we looking at?
Here is a link that is quite informative. http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/tifton85.htm

I think it will last a long time since many of the original test plots are still hayfields. I think the biggest threat is mismanagement and the encroachment of common bermuda into the field. This is just my observation but it appears common bermuda is more cold tolerant and since it forms a heavy mat and will begin growing sooner than the 85 it could eventually take the field. I have some spots of common two of my fields and they keep growing every year. I even hit some of them with a hot dose of roundup but the mat seems to prevent the 85 from pegging down. But once it starts growing its all but smothered.

My friend's father is the fella who brought the kweek here. He travelled the world looking for promising grasses. What's really interesting is how they developed it and what all they went through to make it.

That article is good. I can vouch for the article's description of 3" per day growth. I've seen this. With rain and fertilizer the grass will be green before you even get the hay out of the field. It amazes me.

edit: I hope Tiger gets plenty of rainfall this year. It'd be interesting to see a photo evolution of a hayfield.

 

[GRTiger85]

Here is a photo I meant to post the other day of when they were sprigging. I meant to take some close up ones but I forgt to when I was down there. Really felt for the guy that had to stand back there and feed the sprigger while he was eating all that dust.

 

[GRTiger85]

Well It rained a little over 2 inches on my field, so It should be looking pretty good here in a couple weeks

 

[Jogeephus]

Sounds like you got it licked. Keep us posted and updated with more photos. Again, good luck, weather is just now getting about right for it to show you what it can do.