Orchard Grass and Ladino Clover Management?

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Stocker Steve

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I turned the stockers into a paddock today that had been rested for 5 weeks. The OG seed heads were as high as the pickup hood. This paddock was seeded to RC, Landino, and fescue 8 years ago - - but OG and Ladino have taken over.

Any tips on managing a mostly OG stand?
 
If you ever mow/clip it don;t cut shorter then about 6 inches. OG doesn;t do well when cut short like fescue.
 
I have a field where the ladino has taken over from my red clover - timothy which did not make it through the drought last year. I reseeded with orchard grass this spring and after I get my second cutting off in about 3 weeks I will let it come back and spray with 24D this fall when it is cooler.
 
kjonesel":3av5ttfe said:
I have a field where the ladino has taken over from my red clover - timothy which did not make it through the drought last year. I reseeded with orchard grass this spring and after I get my second cutting off in about 3 weeks I will let it come back and spray with 24D this fall when it is cooler.
Why would you want to kill the Ladino?
 
dun":3fv45fcz said:
kjonesel":3fv45fcz said:
I have a field where the ladino has taken over from my red clover - timothy which did not make it through the drought last year. I reseeded with orchard grass this spring and after I get my second cutting off in about 3 weeks I will let it come back and spray with 24D this fall when it is cooler.
Why would you want to kill the Ladino?
2-4D won't kill the clover it may burn it a little but it sure won't kill it
 
dun":3hwohrrz said:
If you ever mow/clip it don;t cut shorter then about 6 inches. OG doesn;t do well when cut short like fescue.

I usually "swath graze" once a year by cutting it before I turn the cattle in, to keep the thistle down.
If I cut it high they will tend to graze the stubble after the first day. May need to cross fence or cut sooner.

OG seems to have a poor rep for grazing. Do folks let it get too mature or are there other issues?
 
Orchard grass is a clump/bunch grass and does not grow back from rhizomes. It will not like overgrazing or heavy tramping. Mig grazing with rest and regrowth is probably the best for it.
 
Angus Cowman":2cxkc7en said:
dun":2cxkc7en said:
kjonesel":2cxkc7en said:
I have a field where the ladino has taken over from my red clover - timothy which did not make it through the drought last year. I reseeded with orchard grass this spring and after I get my second cutting off in about 3 weeks I will let it come back and spray with 24D this fall when it is cooler.
Why would you want to kill the Ladino?
2-4D won't kill the clover it may burn it a little but it sure won't kill it
If you're lucky it will burn it. This place has a bunch of that small low growing white (old dutch stuff) clover that seems to think herbicides are fertilizer. I've got one field that it choked out the fescue. So now I just graze the snot out of it anytime I see anything white in the field
 
IL cow man":eqhlmavq said:
Orchard grass is a clump/bunch grass and does not grow back from rhizomes. It will not like overgrazing or heavy tramping. Mig grazing with rest and regrowth is probably the best for it.

So do you need a rhizome producing grass for hoof tillage?
 
In our area we can't get the tonnage out of a field with high levels of ladino. And you are right about the 2-4D, but if it gets burnt back the grasses will overtake it. We have issues with the ladino in the fall hay crop trying to get the hay dry enough to bale. Some of our ground no longer has fence around it and we have a ready market for hay. Three years ago hay got so high that a large percentage of the herds were culled very heavy. With the 3 x 4 bales my brothers are able to market all of their hay and have reduced their herd to just a dozen cows. Even with cattle as high as they are now it hard to justify putting ground into hay and building fence around it. Around here we have rolling hills and with the farmers using no-till it is phenominal what they are able to produce out of row crops. I personnally am going to go back with wheat along with red clover and timothy in a field where corn has been planted for 7 years straight.
 
Stocker Steve":2eeqxwv5 said:
dun":2eeqxwv5 said:
If you ever mow/clip it don;t cut shorter then about 6 inches. OG doesn;t do well when cut short like fescue.

I usually "swath graze" once a year by cutting it before I turn the cattle in, to keep the thistle down.
If I cut it high they will tend to graze the stubble after the first day. May need to cross fence or cut sooner.

OG seems to have a poor rep for grazing. Do folks let it get too mature or are there other issues?

We have lots of OG, the trick is getting the cows to eat it. That's why MIG works very well, you force them to utilize it. It's growth pattern is great once you get the seed head clipped off, after that it just grows leaf, and is surprisingly drought-tolerant for a cool-season grass.

It gets mature easily in the spring, it's the first grass to shoot up a seed head in the spring around here so it's tough to get it all grazed off before it gets coarse and stemmy.

Lots of it gets cut for hay around here, it seems to tolerate getting cut short for a few years, and then peters out. If you can somehow get some smooth brome established to fill in the holes between the clumps of OG that would be a good mix.
 
We have had good luck with brome in our pastures. Nice thing about it is it holds its feed value well in to maturity, and the stands thicken over time. It's one of those grasses here that goes in every field we seed down.
 
fargus":ywd0y9xn said:
We have had good luck with brome in our pastures. Nice thing about it is it holds its feed value well in to maturity, and the stands thicken over time. It's one of those grasses here that goes in every field we seed down.

I have been using fescue or reed canary in a sod mix.
Tall fescues is getting more common here but it can winter kill, and does not seem to fill in as well as reed canary.
Reed canary is much more tolerant. You just have to wait 3 years before it get well extablished.
 
I clipped two paddocks last week, and left the swather platform up to just get the seed heads and the thistle.

I noticed that in the swales the mix is turning mostly timothy and ladino. I have never planted timothy but it is obviously in the seed bank. I think the hoof tillage is particularly effective in these wet spots.

I am considering no till drilling of red clover where alfalfa has drowned out the last two years. Any tips on successful fall plantings?
 

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