Posted 3:01 am Sunday, October 18, 2009
Planting Rate Tips To Remember For Winter Forage Crops
Last week I spoke about establishing winter pastures. The rainy weather likely has put a damper on getting these fields planted. The good news is that the rainy and cooler weather has also significantly decreased Fall Armyworm activity.
Keep an eye out though, as these insects are likely to be around for another month and can damage newly planted winter pastures.
This week I will finish the discussion by addressing planting rates for winter forage crops. This information is courtesy of Dr. Vanessa Corriher, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Forage Specialist from Overton. If you are planting ryegrass only in a field, the typical seeding rate is 25 to 30 pounds per acre planted either on the soil surface or to a depth of about one-half inches.
Remember to bump this seeding rate up by about 25 percent to around 30 to 40 pounds per acre if you are simply going to broadcast the seed onto the top of an undisturbed sod to compensate for increased seedling loss that would be expected using this method. Depending on time of planting and weather conditions, the window of utilization for ryegrass stands is typically February to May.
If you are planting small grains only (oats, rye, or wheat) in a field the typical seeding rate is 80 to 120 pounds per acre planted to a depth of one to one and one-half inch. The typical utilization window for these crops is December to April.
In general, rye is the earliest available and most winter hardy of small grains and is most widely planted in East Texas because of its adaptation to sandy soils. Rye, however, is the earliest maturing of the small grain forage crops. Compared to rye, wheat is later maturing but is more susceptible to damage from cold weather.
Wheat is more adaptable to loamy clay soils and is typically planted more in the central part of Texas. Compared to rye and wheat, oats provide earlier fall grazing during warm weather, but are more susceptible to winter damage with stand loss possible from very cold weather.
Oats are later maturing than wheat, potentially providing forage longer into the spring. Typical grazing season for this scenario (depending upon species planted) is December to April.
In East Texas, ryegrass is sometimes mixed with one of the small grains to extend grazing season.
The small grain typically produces earlier than the ryegrass with the ryegrass producing later in the spring than the small grain. Using this combination, the ryegrass rate is reduced to 20 to 25 pounds per acre but the small grain is kept at 80 to 120 pounds per acre.
This scenario can produce grazing from December until May. This combination will require using a seed drill to plant the small grain at the proper depth necessary for successful establishment (one to one and one-half inches deep) and some other method like broadcast seeding to plant the ryegrass as their preferred planting depths do not overlap each other.
One final planting scenario for winter pastures is the combination of ryegrass and a legume (clover) crop. Legumes can provide excellent grazing and have the bonus of being able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and use it as a nutrient source during growth.
This nitrogen can be recycled back into the pasture through grazing animals and can help reduce the amount of nitrogen that must be applied to the pasture during the next warm season grazing period.
Each clover variety has a preferred soil type and soil pH. Under this scenario, ryegrass is planted at 15 to 20 pounds per acre and the clover is planted at two-thirds its typical planting rate. Next week I will talk about clovers and upcoming events.
Brian Triplett is the Smith County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources. He can be reached at 903-590-2980, via e-mail at b-triplett@tamu.edu or on the web at smith-tx.tamu.edu.
