Seed Pounds Per Acre ?

[kerley]

I have my pasture ripped up and ready to plant for permanent pasture. I have chose FESCUE,ORCHARD GRASS. TIMOTHY and CLOVER. I will mix all the seed together before broadcasting it. I need to know how many pounds per acre of each seed should go into the mix. Also can I add fertilizer to the mix before broadcasting ? I want to plant this weekend weather permitting. Thanks, Tom :cboy:

 

[Dave]

For broadcast seeding I use 300 seeds per square foot. Seeds come in different sizes. Tall Fescue has 225,000 seeds per pound, orchard grass has 540,000, Timothy has 1,300,000, and white clover (you didn't say which clover) has 800,000. One pound of clover seed spread evenly over an acre gives you 18.4 seeds per square foot whereas a pound of fescue is only 5.2 seeds per square foot. The percent of each species you desire would determine the mix.
A blend of 30% each of fescue, orchard, and timothy with 10% clover would be 17.3 pounds of fescue, 7.2 pounds of orchard, 3 pounds of timothy, and 1.6 pounds of clover per acre.

 

[kerley]

Dave, Thanks a million,Tom

 

[dun]

The more or less standard seeding rates are
Fescue: 10lbs/a
OG: 5.2 lbs/a
Timthy: 3.9 lbs/a
Red Clover: 7.6 lbs/a
Ladino: 3.7 lbs/a
If it's all being planted at the same time use an adjustment factor increase the CSG by 25%
Now for the simple formula to determine how much of which type goes into the mix.
Seeding rate for species (i.e.) Fescue, OG, clover, etc.) times the adjustment factor times the percentage wanted in the mix times number of acres equals how much seed is needed.
Fescue - 10X1.25X50%X10 = 62.5 lbs of fescue seed for 10 acres.

 

[kerley]

Dun, Thanks a million. I have called around locally to find the seed I chose. No one locally has all the seed. One place could supply part of my needs but not all. One seed supplier offered seed at the farmers discount price. I called back the next day and was quoted a price half the first quote. Go figure ? I also bought a new seed spreader, pretty nifty. Traveling home the seeder slid forward and shattered the sliding rear window in my pickup. Some days it pays to stay in bed. Tom :cboy:

 

[gberry]

Dave,
How do you decide on the 300 seed/sq foot figure? Just curious as I have never heard anyone figure it that way. Best I can tell that would be about 60 lbs per acre for annual ryegrass which is 2-3x most recommendations. I have been thinking of increasing our seeding rate as seed is cheap relative to fertilizer, but I am not sure what effect doubling the number of seed would have on yield provided the same amount of fertilizer is used. Any idea?

 

[dun]

Dave,
How do you decide on the 300 seed/sq foot figure? Just curious as I have never heard anyone figure it that way. Best I can tell that would be about 60 lbs per acre for annual ryegrass which is 2-3x most recommendations. I have been thinking of increasing our seeding rate as seed is cheap relative to fertilizer, but I am not sure what effect doubling the number of seed would have on yield provided the same amount of fertilizer is used. Any idea?

Planting too thickly causes less leave growth and mor stem.

 

[novatech]

You may want to consider rate of growth on the verities selected. If one grows much faster than the other then the slower forage does not produce as it should because it may get shaded out. I have sen this happen with clover mixed with rye and oats.

 

[Dave]

In the original post Kerley said he was going to broadcast the seed. The 300 seeds per square foot is the NRCS recommended rate for broadcast seeding of grass. Broadcast seeding it is wise to use a heavier rate than seed that is drilled in because there is a greater chance of a portion of the seed having poor cover and not sprouting. There is a big difference in recommended rates for broadcast and drilled seeding.
On a personal level I know that I always use plenty of seed when planting grass. Part of this is I am very close to a major grass seed growing area and seed has been cheap. With all the other expenses of working a field and planting, seed was the cheapest, so I don't use a little extra.

 

[Stocker Steve]

In the original post Kerley said he was going to broadcast the seed. The 300 seeds per square foot is the NRCS recommended rate for broadcast seeding of grass. Broadcast seeding it is wise to use a heavier rate than seed that is drilled in because there is a greater chance of a portion of the seed having poor cover and not sprouting. There is a big difference in recommended rates for broadcast and drilled seeding.
On a personal level I know that I always use plenty of seed when planting grass. Part of this is I am very close to a major grass seed growing area and seed has been cheap. With all the other expenses of working a field and planting, seed was the cheapest, so I don't use a little extra.

Most folks put on less than half this much (about one seed per sq inch) unless they are using a lot of timothy. Most folks also end up thin stands.

I usually seed with an oats cover crop, and it seems like about half the time I inter seed part of the stand the next spring to get it thick. A Brillion type seeder can really save you a lot of $ on total cost - - especially with pricy legume seed.

 

[ironpeddler]

For broadcast seeding I use 300 seeds per square foot. Seeds come in different sizes. Tall Fescue has 225,000 seeds per pound, orchard grass has 540,000, Timothy has 1,300,000, and white clover (you didn't say which clover) has 800,000. One pound of clover seed spread evenly over an acre gives you 18.4 seeds per square foot whereas a pound of fescue is only 5.2 seeds per square foot. The percent of each species you desire would determine the mix.
A blend of 30% each of fescue, orchard, and timothy with 10% clover would be 17.3 pounds of fescue, 7.2 pounds of orchard, 3 pounds of timothy, and 1.6 pounds of clover per acre.

Dave I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to follow your math. This is impressive because it really makes since. I would have come up with close to the same answer but would have got there by the old ball a chain method. I would ask Kerley to add about 10-20 lbs per acre of wheat or rye to his mix to assist on erosion control. The small grain will come up quickly and allow his mix to develop. Don't use more than 20 Lbs per acre or you will have too much competition for the fescue and orchard grass. Fescue develops a root system first so usually fescue will come on the second year.

 

[Dave]

ironpeddler,
I didn't do all the math myself. This is part of what I do for a living so I have a cheat sheet.
I do agree with using a small grain as a nurse crop. Oats are generally the grain of choice in this area but wheat, rye, or even barley will do the job. A lot of people use a light seeding of annual ryegrass as that is about the cheapest seed there is around here. The idea is to use an annual that will sprout fast and give some shade (but not too much) to help keep the soil surface from drying out.

 

[shorty]

I don't know what the right seeding rate would be , but I don't think you should mix all the seeds together if you are using a spinner type spreader . The clover will fly out much further than the grasses will so if you the right distance apart for the clover the grasses won't cover and if you drive so the grasses cover you will be over lapping the clover . so you might want to seed the clover seperately and then mix they grasses and the tim. together and drive closer when you seed them, your seeder might have a chart with seeding widths for different seeds and fertilizer , clover should spread out about the same as fertilizer , years ago we seeded clover in the wheat as a cover crop for the next year . the fert. place put in a mixer to make their own fert. so we took our seed along and had them mix it in . The first year we spread it I drove the way I always did for for fert. but the clover didn't fly out quite as far , and I had strippers , so after that I drove just a little closer and both seemed to be fine . If it's mixed good enough it works but I don't think it would work with the grasses . As long as you can mix it good enough it should work.