Tifton -9 bahia grass for grazing

[polledbull]

any one familar with the titfon-9 bahia grass . I would like to hear any comments on bahia vs. bermuda in a grazing operation. I am considering adding more permanant pasture , now than millet is got so expensive per bag. I have some bermuda , (wrangler and cheyanne ) but was considering bahia this time .It seems that bermuda starts to fizzle as soon as the days start to get shorter and the nights get cooler .all comments welcome

 

[Deepsouth]

any one familar with the titfon-9 bahia grass . I would like to hear any comments on bahia vs. bermuda in a grazing operation. I am considering adding more permanant pasture , now than millet is got so expensive per bag. I have some bermuda , (wrangler and cheyanne ) but was considering bahia this time .It seems that bermuda starts to fizzle as soon as the days start to get shorter and the nights get cooler .all comments welcome

Tiff-9 is a good grass. I don't have any myself, I went with Argentine Bahia because of it was more available here, but I do know some who have it and it's doing real good. As for Bahia verses Bermuda, I really like the Bermuda, it comes out earlier in the spring and last longer into the fall and will give more tonnage but the reason I don't have it's because everyone around here has a time with the army worms in it.

 

[Tim/South]

Bahia/Fescue mix makes a great pasture. I planted MaxQ fescue and clover earlier this fall and will add the Tifton 9 Bahia this spring.
Bermuda is my favorite warm season grass. It is just hard to establish a cool season grass in Bermuda. The reason Fescue and Bahia do so well together is because they are both bunch grasses.

 

[highgrit]

I like Tiff 9 myself, but my results are the exact opposite of Deepsouth. My hay fields are coastal bermuda and the army worms love it. Bahia grass gets tuff when it gets tall. That's the only thing I see wrong with Bahia for grazing.

 

[Tim/South]

I like Tiff 9 myself, but my results are the exact opposite of Deepsouth. My hay fields are coastal bermuda and the army worms love it. Bahia grass gets tuff when it gets tall. That's the only thing I see wrong with Bahia for grazing.

Very true about being tough. I bale some leased fields of Bahia. They will wear out a set of mower blades faster than any grass I know. I have heard some say that Bahia is hard on a cows teeth. Not sure about than as the pastures would not get as mature as a hayfield.

 

[greybeard]

Dunno about Argentine Bahia, but Pensacola Bahia is not a bunch grass. It's a very common grass here, easy to get started, pretty drought resistant, grows thick, with a seed head coming on about once every 2 weeks if grazed or mowed, then let grow (lots of people use it in their lawns too)
My Bahia stayed green until the first hard frost (27 degrees) this year. The big plus for Bahia, is the amount of seeds it produces--you can drive thru the pasture in mid summer and you'll have thousands of seeds on your front bumper. It makes a huge seed bank, and I always let each pasture go to seed at least once/year.

Tifton9, which is just a variation/improvement of Pensacola bahia, does good here as well, tho a little easier to get going than Pcola, and seed is more expensive to buy--usually about X2 as expensive. Needs plenty of moisture (rainfall) in it's early stages. I planted some early this year and it is doing good. I do not cut hay--just graze it. Cows eat it up--it's just a faster growing forage and a little finer and longer leaf than Pcola bahia.

TiffQuick to me, is the way to go. Germinates faster, provides more forage than either Pensacola or Tifton9, but I don't have any yet.
Dunno how it will do in N.C. and I've never had Army worm problems here so I can't say one way or another on that aspect.

 

[Deepsouth]

I like Tiff 9 myself, but my results are the exact opposite of Deepsouth. My hay fields are coastal bermuda and the army worms love it. Bahia grass gets tuff when it gets tall. That's the only thing I see wrong with Bahia for grazing.

Highgrit if you are talking about the army worms I was saying that they are worse in Bermuda. That's why I planted bahia. Other than that I believe I would rather have the Bermuda.

 

[Deepsouth]

Greybeard, tif 9 is very expensive here also.

 

[Tim/South]

When I contacted the County Extension office about planting some new ground into permanent pasture they advised endophyte friendly Fescue, Tifton 9 Bahia and white clover. This was advised because, according to them, both Bahia and Fescue were bunch grasses and worked well together. They formed a base and grew up from there. They also said I could establish the Fescue in the Bermuda but it did not do as well because my hybrid Bermuda was more of a sod and covered the surface.
I was sent literature on different grasses that worked well for permanent pastures. Both Bahia and Fescue were in the clump/bunch grass category.
After the discussion I began to look at the leased hay fields I cut for hay. I can see the clamp base of the Bahia plant. My Bermuda fields do not have that feature.

 

[igrowgrass]

When I contacted the County Extension office about planting some new ground into permanent pasture they advised endophyte friendly Fescue, Tifton 9 Bahia and white clover. This was advised because, according to them, both Bahia and Fescue were bunch grasses and worked well together. They formed a base and grew up from there. They also said I could establish the Fescue in the Bermuda but it did not do as well because my hybrid Bermuda was more of a sod and covered the surface.
I was sent literature on different grasses that worked well for permanent pastures. Both Bahia and Fescue were in the clump/bunch grass category.
After the discussion I began to look at the leased hay fields I cut for hay. I can see the clamp base of the Bahia plant. My Bermuda fields do not have that feature.

I agree with everything said here.

You have to look at your seasons too. You're far enough north that you're going to get a real winter. If you get a little rain in the late summer/early fall you are going to get a lot more grazing out of that fescue than you will out of the bermuda grass. Its also nice when you can add the novel endophyte fescue on your own instead of fighting with the older varieties.

Another nice feature of fescue is that you can use it to stock pile forage for winter. The fescue can be left tall and saved for late season grazing which will save you money on hay. Anything that saves you money on hay is a good thing in my book.

Bermuda grass is great if you have warm weather and really mild winters, but its tough to get anything established with it because it gets so thick. So, I agree with everything that your local office said. That is rare, but this time I do LOL.

 

[Newberry Creek]

My place is located in South Georgia and is planted in Tift 85. I love it and so does my hay man. In the summers the cows can't keep up with the grass so we roll hay. Some of my neighbors have Tift 9 and are happy with it. They say the seed shafts on the Tift 9 are more palatable to the cows (they eat it better) than other bahia grasses. I have one neighbor that spreads the seed in the winter and lets the cows walk it in. He clams that method of planting works great.