Winter wheat for grazing?

[MosesR]

I've been thinking about overseeding my pastures with winter wheat (don't know what breed). I can get the seed at the MFA for about $17 a fifty pound bag. Anyone use wheat? For the cost it seems reasable vs. rye. I am located in East Central Missouri, Washington county, upper Ozarks.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dun]

I just use straight run WW, I've never seen much difference in quality or germination between that and the certified stuff

 

[jedstivers]

We run over 500 head a year on oats and ryegrass. Started with wheat but oats/ryegrass do better but I'm further south. Whatever you use it is better than hauling hay all winter.

 

[Banjo]

We run over 500 head a year on oats and ryegrass. Started with wheat but oats/ryegrass do better but I'm further south. Whatever you use it is better than hauling hay all winter.

Why is the oats/ryegrass better than wheat....just curious. Will the oats survive the winter?

 

[cow pollinater]

Wheat is pretty watery up until spring. No much power to it and not much stem. The rye and oats are alittle more solid. Here in CA oats are a winter grown crop.

 

[dun]

Wheat is pretty watery up until spring. No much power to it and not much stem. The rye and oats are alittle more solid. Here in CA oats are a winter grown crop.

They are in MO too, spring grazing is all they're good for.

 

[jedstivers]

We get more early growth out of oats and better winter growth out of ryegrass. Soon as the warm Feb days start the oats take off again. The U of A says wheat is the best winter grazing but on my farm I've seen otherwise.
Also on the fields we don't graze and bale we do more tonnage with oats/ryegrass than wheat.

 

[Bigfoot]

No need in paying that for wheat. Just use bin run wheat.

 

[calfbuyer]

Jed, I have planted wheat, oats and rye grass, but I have never mixed them. How many pounds of each do you mix together and how many pounds per acre.

 

[jedstivers]

32-50 lbs oats, 15lbs ryegrass, 100lbs urea is a good mix.

 

[OldCrow]

Do ya'll broadcast sew it or drill it in? This year is the first time we're trying it. Just to see how much better breaking the ground up and sewing compared to drilling it we did 14 acres of sewing and 9 acres of drilling to see how much better sewing is than drilling. Do ya'll have any problems with keeping a firm platform through the winter if you sew instead of drill? Not trying to hijack a thread but it seems like it fits.
Thanks,
OldCrow

 

[Banjo]

Do ya'll broadcast sew it or drill it in? This year is the first time we're trying it. Just to see how much better breaking the ground up and sewing compared to drilling it we did 14 acres of sewing and 9 acres of drilling to see how much better sewing is than drilling. Do ya'll have any problems with keeping a firm platform through the winter if you sew instead of drill? Not trying to hijack a thread but it seems like it fits.
Thanks,
OldCrow

Hey Old Crow how is the medicine show?......... When I disk I am using a light disk and just cutting the ground and exposing a little dirt so it is not soft. Now if you have 140 hp tractor with a foldup wing disk that will cut as deep as a plow you will probably have soft ground.

 

[dun]

If you aren;t getting a good stand drilling it you're putting the seed too deep

 

[MosesR]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm thinking a mix of oaks, rye, and wheat. Draging it in with a rock rake and crossing my fingers. I think I will only do the field that I plan on weaning my heifers in this fall/winter and see what happens.

:dunce:

 

[OldCrow]

Hey Old Crow how is the medicine show?.........

Haha, never thought of that, I actually derived my name from Bud Anderson's "Old Crow" P-51 Mustang. It's a beauty.

When I disk I am using a light disk and just cutting the ground and exposing a little dirt so it is not soft. Now if you have 140 hp tractor with a foldup wing disk that will cut as deep as a plow you will probably have soft ground.

Yeah we used a JD 4430 with a bi fold disc. My father in law cut it and I hinted that I didn't want to go to deep but after it was over he said he hated to run over it and not sink the disk all the way. :roll: It is a bottom and sandy in places so I think there it will pack back down nicely but were sand isn't as prevelent we might have a problem with it.

If you aren;t getting a good stand drilling it you're putting the seed too deep

I think I had this problem once before as the hydraulics on the tractor I used let fluid leak by the SCV and it was hard to keep a constant pressure. This go around I kept it at the constant 500 PSI as advised by the Local Ag Service so I think we should get a good stand.