What grass for pasture?

[Tree-Farmer]

What grass would you recommend to plant for pasture?

A local seed dealer has a pasture blend that has:
Fescue (k32 variety) 50%
Orchard grass - Potomac 20%
Timothy (Climax) 10%
Perennial rye (Linn variety) 20%

What do you think? Is that a good mix?

In North Missouri, clay soil, we got normal/good rain this year and last year.

This is for a pasture that I want to re-plant, it had been pasture, I plowed and planted beans last year, but had a lot of runoff, so it should go back to pasture.

Thank you for any comments!

 

[GermantownGreen]

What grass would you recommend to plant for pasture?

A local seed dealer has a pasture blend that has:
Fescue (k32 variety) 50%
Orchard grass - Potomac 20%
Timothy (Climax) 10%
Perennial rye (Linn variety) 20%

What do you think? Is that a good mix?

In North Missouri, clay soil, we got normal/good rain this year and last year.

This is for a pasture that I want to re-plant, it had been pasture, I plowed and planted beans last year, but had a lot of runoff, so it should go back to pasture.

Thank you for any comments!

Glad for you to go back to grass.
We Live s w of Clinton....
Mo States seed mix like you have above that would be great. You might want to plant triticale for a cover crop, and seed that in this fall. Then overseed clover in the late winter next spring....

Look up Stockman Grass farmer magazine.
Also Green Pastures farm, Greg Judy. On YouTube He's north of Columbia.
GG Wes

 

[jhwis]

Put some clover in there.

 

[560Dennis]

what livestock will you feeding on the pasture? Makes a big difference in cost and functionality of the pasture .
Sheep, cattle or horses

 

[showcrop]

I tended to go heavy on the orchard grass, both for pasture and hay. Orchard grass doesn't put up a stem after first cutting, just a lot of leaf. Also it tests a little higher in RFV than most grasses. Be sure to include some red clover because it fixes nitrogen into the soil helping your grass. Know that one of the most important things to do in maintaining your pasture is to "top" it.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

What grass would you recommend to plant for pasture?

A local seed dealer has a pasture blend that has:
Fescue (k32 variety) 50%
Orchard grass - Potomac 20%
Timothy (Climax) 10%
Perennial rye (Linn variety) 20%

What do you think? Is that a good mix?

In North Missouri, clay soil, we got normal/good rain this year and last year.

This is for a pasture that I want to re-plant, it had been pasture, I plowed and planted beans last year, but had a lot of runoff, so it should go back to pasture.

Thank you for any comments!

If you want, you could cut back 10% on the Fescue & make that 10% alf or some other legume.

This is my mix. Works great in clay, sand, etc. & it's been a great repeat performer for 19 years.

35% Perennial Ryegrass
20% Alfalfa
20% Timothy
15% Kentucky Bluegrass
10% Festulolium 6N

Mike

 

[formerly ny bill]

In 2001, I seeded down acreage for rotational grazing for our dairy herd. Seeding recommendation consisted of ladino clover and orchardgrass. Which made me laugh because I remembered my Dad using the same species for pasture in the mid 1950s. Worked well both times.

 

[SkipperII]

In 2001, I seeded down acreage for rotational grazing for our dairy herd. Seeding recommendation consisted of ladino clover and orchardgrass. Which made me laugh because I remembered my Dad using the same species for pasture in the mid 1950s. Worked well both times.

Dads was orchard, timothy, and ladino 40s-60s.

 

[Texasmark]

One of my pastures is Tall Fescue. Some white clover would be an improvement but currently just fertilize it prior to the growing season. It grows about 8 months of the year down here.

 

[paul]

There is 100 different ways to go….

A legume is nice to add some nitrogen to the grasses, can make mowing or grazing odd tho. As the alfalfa grows different timing than the grass. It’s actually nice when one slows down the other might grow well but - it’s also odd some times.

Most clover is a nice subdued legume.

Alfalfa adds a lot of volume and deep roots, most alfalfa fades away over time, there are types with low crowns that don’t grow quite as fast but handle grazing and traffic better.

Cattle can bloat on too much green legumes, usually not a problem in mixed hay field, but something to be aware of.

Birdsfoot trefoil is a thin small weak looking legume but grows like alfalfa and cattle won’t bloat on it, can be a nice legume to add into a pasture. Cute little yellow blossoms.

No real recommendation here, just food for thought.

Paul

 

[da.bees]

Coastal or Native Bermuda for Summer grazing and hay, overseeded with annual rye for Winter grazing. Small acreage in Pearl Millet for draught buffer/insurance/emergency.

 

[Texasmark]

Coastal or Native Bermuda for Summer grazing and hay, overseeded with annual rye for Winter grazing. Small acreage in Pearl Millet for draught buffer/insurance/emergency.

Millet was about all that grew when I first bought this acreage I now call a farm. No doubt it is a prolific seed producer. The problem I have with it is that it doesn't have the volume I want per square foot, yard, acre, etc.. So I plow it under and replace with something that does....Yellow rib, late maturing, Sorghum-Sudan does an excellent job of doing what I need. This year it was $33 per 50# bag and I plant a bag per acre.

 

[da.bees]

Millet was about all that grew when I first bought this acreage I now call a farm. No doubt it is a prolific seed producer. The problem I have with it is that it doesn't have the volume I want per square foot, yard, acre, etc.. So I plow it under and replace with something that does....Yellow rib, late maturing, Sorghum-Sudan does an excellent job of doing what I need. This year it was $33 per 50# bag and I plant a bag per acre.

Therein ly's key to my use of millet. I seed it on poor soil which is rented from neighbors. As you point out, it sustains where other plants wither. It shines during drought and you will note I said "small acreage". I would never rely on millet as main source of grazing and/or hay but the little I had plus a lot of luck allowed keeping most my herd when last draught forced people to sell most of theirs. I've never failed breaking even on what it cost to grow and profited 5 fold some years. That's more than I can say about highly improved pasture. Too much or too little rain is the wild card in beef industry.

 

[Texasmark]

Therein ly's key to my use of millet. I seed it on poor soil which is rented from neighbors. As you point out, it sustains where other plants wither. It shines during drought and you will note I said "small acreage". I would never rely on millet as main source of grazing and/or hay but the little I had plus a lot of luck allowed keeping most my herd when last draught forced people to sell most of theirs. I've never failed breaking even on what it cost to grow and profited 5 fold some years. That's more than I can say about highly improved pasture. Too much or too little rain is the wild card in beef industry.

When I was able to afford cows, I had Millet everywhere. Cows weren't very interested in eating it but had to as that is all they had.

 

[da.bees]

When I was able to afford cows, I had Millet everywhere. Cows weren't very interested in eating it but had to as that is all they had.

Did cattle have dairy blood? Mom always kept a few dairy type in in case a calf was orphaned. I think it was nostalgia as much as anything but she was the boss. Since she passed I refuse having anything dairy around.