Should have leveled more before sprigging

[Pablo]

I have 30 acres that I had cleared, root-plowed, and sprigged with Tifton in the summer of 2012. I was lucky with the rain and the sprigs took well and I have about 50% coverage now. The downside to the rain was that when the land was prepared for the sprigs, I had it disked twice but still had a fairly rough field with tractor ruts, large clods of dirt, etc. Over the last year and a half these have not leveled out on their own. Anyone have recommendations on how to better level the pasture without losing all my Tifton that is growing so well?

Paul

 

[Tim/South]

You might be able to run a cultipacker over it to break up the clods. Not sure how to get rid of the ruts.
A pasture renovator type implement may also help some.

 

[Brute 23]

You can disk it and drag a harrow in Jan Feb March and it won't do any thing but make that Tifton thicker.

 

[bird dog]

Brute is correct but I don't think I would wait until March.

 

[highgrit]

Bermuda grass is not frost or freeze resistant. The stolons or sprigs could be hurt during a hard freeze if their on the surface.

 

[Pablo]

BirdDog, what is the risk if I wait until March?

 

[Brute 23]

BirdDog, what is the risk if I wait until March?

If we don't get real cold nights you Tifton can start growing earlier... Jan Feb. It all depends on how warm your winter is. You typically try to disk when its cold and dormant right before it gets warm. Its a timing deal so when it warms up your grass is ready to go.

Reality is if you have multiple places to get to or equipment troubles and end up pushing in to March its not going to hurt any thing. People plant Jan - May all the time. I wouldn't want to do it in July when its 100deg. Little more risky if you don't get rain.

I don't have a link to a college study... Ill let one of these book worms post what the educated folk say you should do... that's just what I have been taught so take it for what its worth. :tiphat:

 

[Pablo]

Thanks for all the help. I'll need to get it done soon. It's too rough to get fertilizer or chicken litter spread and the soil test says I need some nitrogen.

 

[Tim/South]

We have a man in our county who disks his Bermuda hay field in March every few years. He believes it stimulates vigor.
He claims to lose about 2 weeks growth each time he does this.

 

[M Thomason]

Had a food plot 1.5 acres I planted every fall for deer. One spring I had bout half of it in knee high corn and my neighbors cows got in it. Don't know if it was sprigs or seeds but a couple small patches of bermuda sprouted(common I think) from a few piles of manure. Every August I plowed and harrowed till nothing was visible but dirt and fertilized and planted oats and clover. Each year the bermuda patch grew bigger till it had taken over half the plot. Don't know how the hybrid stuff acts but that stuff loved to be plowed. This is in middle GA red clay.

 

[bird dog]

Common you can't hardly kill. Disc at anytime would probably help if it was followed up with some rain. If I had a pasture of Tifton, Jiggs or even Coastal I sure wouldn't disc it in March if it was showing anything at all and I think it would in Gonzales county. I would try to do it before Feb 15 or wait until next year.

 

[cowboy43]

I would be careful of rainfall, if you look at Tx. drought map, a large portion of Tx. is still under drought including Central Tx. and the forecast
through Feb. is below normal rainfall.