Frost seeding

[Randy-IA]

Hi All , I need some info from anyone that's frost seeded before . I want to overseed next year but don't want to tear up the field so I was thinking of frost seeding . What's a good procedure for this fall to prepare the field or is anything special even needed ? The reason is the grass side of my field just hasn't filled in very well and yield is still down below a ton an acre ( about 1500 lbs per acre yesterday ) . Maybe this isn't to bad but it seems like there is a lot of space between plants that could have something growing there . So in addition to how to prepare the field , which grass is the highest yielding ( cool or warm season ) and most palitable for horse hay ? Right now I have a mixture of brome , orchard , perennial rye , bluegrass and a very small amount of timothy . The horses are mixed breeds also - one 28 year old mustang , one blind 12 -14 year old appalosa and three young arabs ( one 2 year old mare , one 7 year old mare ( the mom ) and one 5-6 year old stallion ( the dad ) . The horses all do well over winter on this mix but I'd prefer not to re-seed with that many different types of seed . Remember , this is in the lower central area of the northeast corner of Iowa if that makes a difference . Thanks ! ...Randy

 

[Sid]

I ain't saying it can't be done but I have not had good luck frost seeding grass. My experience has been fertilize will thicken existing stands pretty good. I know fertilize is expensive but around here you loose your grass if you don't. I have lots of good results frosting seeding clovers in Jan. and Feb. seems most people don't want clover for horses though.

 

[Randy-IA]

Hi Sid , You're right about the clover . It causes excessive salivation in horses which can lead to dehydration . I think it's called " blackpath " desease . We had mostly clover here when we moved in to this place nearly twenty years ago and the horses just had buckets of slobber dropping from their mouth's . It's all pretty much gone now and we'd like to keep it that way . Some doesn't hurt them and they like it but too much of it isn't good . I think it's caused by one variety but I'm not sure ( White clover perhaps ? )

I put on fertilizer and have done the soil test's prior to that . I just put some on about 1-1/2 month's ago . N-P and K according to soil test . Didn't put but 50 lbs an acre of urea on back then . We've had over 11 inches of rain since and temps that hovered around 90 . Maybe some more N now to get em perked up again ? Maybe I'm to impatient ? I have to keep the beasts fed . I was going to try and get a fourth cutting near the end of Sept. just for 50 bales or so . Take care ! ...Randy

 

[old]

The problem with clover and horses is the clover is very high in protien and thats what causes the problem since horses have problem if feed is to high in protein. Also depends on the grass you want to plant. Some do well frost seeding and others don't.
Hobby farm

 

[Randy-IA]

Hi Old , Could you elaborate some ? Any ways to help it like dragging a spike harrow around on it or cutting close this fall or maybe rent one of those huge land rollers and press it in . I have a old horse drawn Brillion single gang cultipacker that I haven't gotten home yet but it's heavy and has the star wheels in between the smooth ones . Bad thought , none of those things will work on frozen ground DUH ! Maybe it would be better to just broadcast some seed after the frost is out and hope for the best ? Take care ! ...Randy

 

[old]

Well one other thing you could do is this. A month or so before your first frost brush hog the field real good then take and spread your seed out. That way it will start growing before it freezes and then in the spring you will have a been crop. Light disking also helps since it will not hurt what you already have all tht bad but opens up places for the new seed. Of course if you don't get rain nothing works
Hobby farm

 

[McFarmer]

Orchard grass has done the best for us when frost seeding. Do it in late March when there is no snow and a few chances of freezing temps yet. Put some fertilizer on at the same time with a cart. Red clover works well also but horses might not like it so well.

 

[JK-NY]

Not sure what kind of winters you have, but frost seeding works good here in upstate NY. Usaually its done in March after snow is gone and ground is bare but still getting good freezing at night.Red clover, orchardgrass and sometimes timothy will do well broadcast on old hayground or pastures. It works well when you have the right weather, the key is hard freezes at night, thawing during day, not alot of rain or snow till a few good freeze-thaw cycles take place.You can put the seed opn when ground is still slightly frozen(avoids mud/ruts). As for preparation , I cant think of anything beyond mowing/grazing the existing stand down in late summer or fall. I plan to try some weed control on part of a field this fall and frost seed it in spring.

 

[Finn Md]

frost seeding Orchardgrass works OK for me in Maryland. I've frost seeded a few fields with sucess, and found that for me the best Orchardgrass varieties were the early maturing types, like Benchmark Plus. Less sucess using late maturing varieties like Pennlate or Haymate. Check your seed supplier for variety maturity rating. You can mow short in early winter, light disk and frost seed in Feb - March when it still freezes at night and you get the frost cracks in the ground. I've applied about 12-pounds per ac. It helps to broadcast the seed when ground is still frozen - which is usually early am.

 

[johns48jdb]

there is no way better than to use a drill to go over the ground to reseed with. most local coops have a drill for rent and you'll be well ahead of the game to use it.