Seeding pasture/hay ground

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BEJ

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North Central Minnesota
Going to seed down two fields this year on is 20 acres (was planted into rye last august plan on grazing it off at the end April into may) second field is 30 acres that had sorghum on last year just cut and bailed once…I attached the mix soil n water recommend is there something different you would do or recommend? The 20 acre field will end up turning into pasture as I need more pasture then field but will still cut and bale probably once a year if conditions allow me to…the 30 acre field will remain mainly for hay production with the possibility of grazing but not very likely…in central to north central mn…thanks
 

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I have not seeded the year after rye or sorghum so not much help there. pasture mix seems to contain more alfalfa than what I would use unless it is a grazing alfalfa. may also be fine if it will be kept well grazed. if rotating pasture to allow regrowth and turn out, I would definitely not use that much alfalfa in the pasture mix.
 
I have not seeded the year after rye or sorghum so not much help there. pasture mix seems to contain more alfalfa than what I would use unless it is a grazing alfalfa. may also be fine if it will be kept well grazed. if rotating pasture to allow regrowth and turn out, I would definitely not use that much alfalfa in the pasture mix.
What amount would you use? It does seem high.
 
I would not use more than 10% but a lot depends on how you plan to graze that field. my main concern would be bloating on the alfalfa, so if it is grazed continuously and kept short, I would not be too concerned. rotating or allowing pasture to grow and then turning cattle out would worry me with 40% alfalfa. Alfalfa does like warm dry conditions so 40% would also be fine in dry conditions if that is your normal summer time conditions.
 
I would not use more than 10% but a lot depends on how you plan to graze that field. my main concern would be bloating on the alfalfa, so if it is grazed continuously and kept short, I would not be too concerned. rotating or allowing pasture to grow and then turning cattle out would worry me with 40% alfalfa. Alfalfa does like warm dry conditions so 40% would also be fine in dry conditions if that is your normal summer time conditions.
I do plan on rotational grazing the 20 acre field pretty regularly in my rotation which I do agree with you on 40% is to much alfalfa for fear of bloat…what would your opinion on changing the mix cut the alfalfa down to 4lbs a acre and increase the brome grass or tall fescue (No experience with fescue) or add in another species?
 
Hopefully the Fescue is a Novel Endophyte variety and not KY31.

Are you planning on notill or tilling? How much trash is left in the sorghum field?

I would plan the 20ac field that is to be pasture differently than the the field that may or may not be pasture, but will be hay. The mix looks good for hay. I'd use birdsfoot trefoil in place of the alfalfa for the pasture field at the same rates. It's nonbloating and has good feed value.
 
Hopefully the Fescue is a Novel Endophyte variety and not KY31.

Are you planning on notill or tilling? How much trash is left in the sorghum field?

I would plan the 20ac field that is to be pasture differently than the the field that may or may not be pasture, but will be hay. The mix looks good for hay. I'd use birdsfoot trefoil in place of the alfalfa for the pasture field at the same rates. It's nonbloating and has good feed value.
My plan is to moboard all stubble and manure I have to spread this spring under pick rock disc roll n plant it…I have to many gophers yet to try no till (although I would like to in the near future) and yes the brome is by far the most expensive…I thought about trying the birds foot trefoil but was told that it can become like a weed and over take everything but I personally don't have any experience with it….
 
Spring planting is troublesome. After tilling the ground, the weeds will come. I normally plant grasses only, then broadleaf spray the field, then frost seed clover or other legumes the next winter/spring.

In your area trefoil might take over. Around here I'd pay top dollar for trefoil to take over. It's nonbloating and puts pounds on cattle.

My thinking here is for pasture that will be rotational grazed.

Your hay field I would manage separately. If Alfalfa is needed then grow alfalfa, not a 40% mix of alfalfa.
 
Seed grass in months that end in "R". Since you say you can't no till I would get the ground prepped this spring, plant an annual for hay or forage then no till plant your perennial mixes this fall. You wouldn't be any further behind and probably better off this way given that you're plowing. It's going to take some time for the ground to firm up enough to graze when damp anyway, as deep as you're working it.
 
Seed grass in months that end in "R". Since you say you can't no till I would get the ground prepped this spring, plant an annual for hay or forage then no till plant your perennial mixes this fall. You wouldn't be any further behind and probably better off this way given that you're plowing. It's going to take some time for the ground to firm up enough to graze when damp anyway, as deep as you're working it.
That is a good idea that I hadn't thought of…thank you that just moved to the top of my list for the 20 acre field for sure
 
I do plan on rotational grazing the 20 acre field pretty regularly in my rotation which I do agree with you on 40% is to much alfalfa for fear of bloat…what would your opinion on changing the mix cut the alfalfa down to 4lbs a acre and increase the brome grass or tall fescue (No experience with fescue) or add in another species?
It would be a safer mix. I have learned the hard way that alfalfa in a pasture mix does not always work out as planned.
 
I don't see 40% alfalfa on that seed list. I see 40 seeds per sq. ft. Keep in mind too that alfalfa plants quickly thin out over the first few years. I would be happy with that mix.
you are correct on %. it would be about 32% which still would be high in my opinion for rotational grazing.
 
A few years ago I tried a small patch of lucerne (alfalfa), I couldn't kill the stuff, it survived our big drought and while it looked dead it came up as strong as ever. I tried overseeding it with some strong summer growing grasses (Premier Digit) and absolutely none of the grass seed germinated. I think the terminolgy is "aliphatic effect" or something like that, it just would not let anything else grow. In the end I sprayed it out with Glyphosate before planting more grass seed.
In another paddock I put in some with another seed mix but only at about 10% and all of them seemed to get on OK. The lucerne has been very persistant over many years. The only thing that has knocked it has been the waterlogged areas over the past year or two but I can still find it on the better drained areas.

Ken
 

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