pasture grasses

[jt]

i am having more and more crabgrass take over in parts of my pasture. i have (had) common bermuda in most of my pasture, but it seems to be slowly dying out. my ph is a little low, but according to my extension agent, not bad. it is 5.8. he said at 5.8 the crabgrass should not be taking over. but it is.

with the way i work, i need a grass that is more hearty than this, and that will withstand more with a little less attention. i fertilize more than a lot of people do, and will most likely lime later this year.

this is for grazing land in north louisiana. i am pretty disgusted with it right now and am about ready to throw in the towel and let bahia take it all over. i have some of it and it seems to be standing its ground. i know the drawback of bahia is that it is tough. but will it do ok in a rotational grazing program if the cows are forced to eat it down pretty much before moving on??? or if not allowing it to get too high before turning them in on it??


comments/help/advice appreciated

thanks

jt

 

[Campground Cattle]

Try Paraguay bahia good grass less seed.

 

[jfont]

Once you lime you should see an improvement. I had the same ph problem. Not so much as unwanted grass, but slow growth with the bermuda. It took about a year before I seen a change, but once the lime began to work my grass was alot healthier. Healthier grass should hold it's ground better and not give way to bad grass. If you are a heavy nitrogen thrower you will need to continue to keep an eye on your ph. Excessive nitrogen tends to bring your ph down, and with a low ph your grass will not get the total benifits of the fertilizer, and it wont absorb all the minerals from the soil that it should to be nutritious.

 

[mbdear]

Crab grass is a great pasture grass...its bad reputation comes from its presence in yards. Cattle will often graze crab grass first when given a choice.

 

[Beefy]

as far as persitance goes, bahia and alicia bermuda will pretty much choke out anything except carpetgrass and centipede. Crabgrass is a good forage and cattle love it, but it comes on late in the spring and dies as soon as its frosty.

 

[Ryder]

Bahia should work, but make sure you really want it before you give over to it. That is, you may want to consider doing whatever is needed to establish a good Bermuda. Bahia can make a worthwhile pasture or one heck of a weed-depending on if you want it or not. A lot of trouble to have prolific Bahia and then decide you want to go to Bermuda.

 

[sillco]

i am having more and more crabgrass take over in parts of my pasture. i have (had) common bermuda in most of my pasture, but it seems to be slowly dying out. my ph is a little low, but according to my extension agent, not bad. it is 5.8. he said at 5.8 the crabgrass should not be taking over. but it is.

with the way i work, i need a grass that is more hearty than this, and that will withstand more with a little less attention. i fertilize more than a lot of people do, and will most likely lime later this year.

this is for grazing land in north louisiana. i am pretty disgusted with it right now and am about ready to throw in the towel and let bahia take it all over. i have some of it and it seems to be standing its ground. i know the drawback of bahia is that it is tough. but will it do ok in a rotational grazing program if the cows are forced to eat it down pretty much before moving on??? or if not allowing it to get too high before turning them in on it??


comments/help/advice appreciated

thanks

jt

I ranched in North Louisiana for over fifteen years in DeSoto Parish two miles south of Longstreet on LA 5. I put in Coastal and Alica. You have to keep it fertilized and maintain a PH of nutural. If clover will grow your PH should be right. I fertilized at a rate of at least 65 units of N at 30 day entervals in my pastures and on my hay fields I put 100 units of N per acrea. The N will also increase your protine level. You might want to spray for the weeds if they are to thick. The Coastal will really produce a lot of forage and will shade out weeds with type of management. I wish I had it up here for a warn season grass.

 

[sillco]

i am having more and more crabgrass take over in parts of my pasture. i have (had) common bermuda in most of my pasture, but it seems to be slowly dying out. my ph is a little low, but according to my extension agent, not bad. it is 5.8. he said at 5.8 the crabgrass should not be taking over. but it is.

with the way i work, i need a grass that is more hearty than this, and that will withstand more with a little less attention. i fertilize more than a lot of people do, and will most likely lime later this year.

this is for grazing land in north louisiana. i am pretty disgusted with it right now and am about ready to throw in the towel and let bahia take it all over. i have some of it and it seems to be standing its ground. i know the drawback of bahia is that it is tough. but will it do ok in a rotational grazing program if the cows are forced to eat it down pretty much before moving on??? or if not allowing it to get too high before turning them in on it??


comments/help/advice appreciated

thanks

jt

I ranched in North Louisiana for over fifteen years in DeSoto Parish two miles south of Longstreet on LA 5. I put in Coastal and Alica. You have to keep it fertilized and maintain a PH of nutural. If clover will grow your PH should be right. I fertilized at a rate of at least 65 units of N at 30 day entervals in my pastures and on my hay fields I put 100 units of N per acrea. The N will also increase your protine level. You might want to spray for the weeds if they are to thick. The Coastal will really produce a lot of forage and will shade out weeds with type of management. I wish I had it up here for a warn season grass.

Also check with your extension agent and they will send you information on how to establish and grow most grasses. Louisiana is really good about assisting ranchers with this type of info. Good luck