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Hi Steve, Where can I find info about the management of NWSG's? And if
you have found Indian grass volunteering in your pastures would you
recommend starting with that. how palatable, etc is it?
Liese,
Management of a NWSG stand is not that difficult. The primary
principles are:
1. Providing weed and cool season grass control during the first two
years of establishment
2. Maintaining a high grazing residue height (gen. 8-10 inches)
3. Allowing a long re-growth period (30-45 days) between grazings.
Due to the differences in management, trying to manage a combination
WSG/cool season grass stand is very difficult to impossible. NWSG
should be planted/managed seperately from CSG stands.
Indian grass is not as palatable as many other species, and is not as
forgiving as switchgrass during lapses in management. It also has a
"fluffy" which makes planting more of a challenge
Sharp seed company sells NWSG seed, I checked and found Blackwell
Switch grass for $6.50/ LB PLS The seeding rate is 5-6 # pls/ acre so
the seed cost is only around $40/acre.
I suggest grazing an area intended for NWSG establishment tight this
fall, keeping it grazed very short in the spring, spraying the area with
round-up twice (2 pt/ac 14 days apart), and planting no-till about ten
days later. Plan on clipping the weeds and CSG's shortly after the WSG
germinates. The VIrginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has a
no-till drill they rent to landusers for establishing NWSG stands. If
there is a heavy population of horse nettle in the area, plan on
spraying for flea beetles.Thanks to everyone else too for the input, as
to Bermuda grass I am wondering if I will just trade summer dormancy
problems for winter dormancy problems or do I have bad info?
Bermuda does OK south of the James River and east of the Blue Ridge,
but it needs a lot of fertilizer and a lot of management to remain
palatable. A lot of folks no-till rye (cecale serale) or rye grass
(lolium spp) into thier BG stands to produce grazing into the winter/
earlier spring.
I don't know where in VA your operation is located, but I am about
20 miles east of Charlottesville, and you (anyone) is welcome to come by
and talk about managed grazing and see our operation.
Kindest Regards,
Steve
Steve Lucas (cowboypo8@louisa.net)
Mountain View Farm
Louisa, Virginia
www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/ruralwri/lucas/home.htm
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