Pasture Improvement

[jhambley]

I have a 20 acre pasture located about an hour south of Kansas City KS. It currently has a young stand of brome (2 years old). I will be using this pasture for grazing only and wanted to see what I might be able to broadcast to improve year round grazing.

I was considering adding alfalfa to the pasture. Any experience with planting into brome? I also thought about frost seeding some clover this winter.

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[dun]

We're about an hour south of KC also, but another hour east also.
Around here, Brome is pretty much a oneshot deal in the spring. Regrowth pretty well stinks for grazing purposes. To use it for year round grazing you would need something that does well in the heat (a warm season grass) and has fall growth. The fall growth would be pretty much fescue or annual rye or WW. For my brome field it was recommended by NRCS to hay it, bale it in small squares and sell it to the horse folks.

dun

 

[jhambley]

Dun,

What would be considered the top warm season grass for this area that can quickly be established?

 

[dun]

Dun,

What would be considered the top warm season grass for this area that can quickly be established?

I'm not into the non-native warm season grasses but I did look at Bermuda and red river crabgrass. The native WSG, big and little bluestem, etc are slow to establish and not very competitive. Friedn of mine has switch grass seeded into his fescue and seems pleased with it. His cows don;t appear too pleased, but he is because at least he has something for them to eat.

dun