Winter Pasture Establishment and Management

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Winter Pasture Establishment and Management
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Winter Pasture Management

• Variety Selection
• Method of Planting
• seeding rate
• early yield
• Fertilization
• Nitrogen
• Soil pH effect on PK
• Grazing Management

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Forage Selection

• Cool Season Forages
• Annuals
• Ryegrass
• Small grains Rye, Wheat, Oats
• Clovers Arrowleaf, Berseem, Crimson
• Perennials
• Tall Fescue
• White clover

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Clovers
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Winter Annual Grasses
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Stocking rateAdequate Fertility Management
Required

• High Productivity
• Stockers, Dairy, etc.
• 1 acre/1000 lbs initial animal weight
• Rotational graze early
• Bring in help later
• borrow cows
• silage, baled silage
• Hay (may)

• Overwintering
• Dry cows, cow/calf
• 1/4 - 1/3 acre per AU
• limit graze, a few hours per day
• graze out in late march/april
• manage to bring in Bermuda in May

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Ryegrass yield response to Temperature
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Ryegrass Variety Trial at Overton
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New Varieties

• Several on the market
• Ribeye, Lafayette, others look good
• Ribeye has very early grazing
• NONE have been tested in a severe Texas or
  Oklahoma winter
• Until then standard recommendations apply.

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Seeding Rates

• General Recommendations
• Ryegrass 25 lbs./acre
• Rye 60 lbs./acre
• Wheat 60 lbs./acre

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Early Ryegrass Yield as Affectedby Seeding Rate
and Method
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Planting Method

• Prepared Seedbed
• Earliest Grazing
• Best nutrient mixing
• Lower Seeding Rate
• Reduced competition
• Most expensive
• Money
• Time
• Poor Footing

• Sodseeding
• Uses nonproductive land
• Later Grazing
• Poor nutrient mixing
• Higher seeding rate
• Least expensive
• Greatest competition
• Better Footing

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Sodseeding Method

• Broadcast
• Small seed, fast
• Poor Seed/Soil contact
• Sod Competition
• Limited Nutrient movement
• Phosphorus and Soil pH limits subsoil rooting
  pattern

• Drill
• Large seed, slower, most expensive
• Reduced Seeding rates
• Best Seed/Soil contact
• Reduced sod competition
• Nutrient Placement

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Chemical Desiccation of Dallisgrass Sod
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Soil Fertility

• N-P-K
• Soil pH
• others

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Ryegrass Response to Nitrogen
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Ryegrass and Arrowleaf Response to Nitrogen Rate
and Timing
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Ryegrass Response to Limeand Phosphorus
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Ryegrass Response to Limeand Potassium
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Fertility Management

• Nitrogen Winter pasture
• Grazing180 units/year include recycled
• Phosphorus
• 60 units per year
• pH dependent
• Potassium Tricky
• fertilize for Ryegrass Requirements (60-120
  units/year)

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Fertility Management

• Soil pH
• limits nutrient availability
• Cool season more intolerant
• Ryegrass/small grains pHgt5.8
• Clover
• pHlt7 crimson, arrowleaf, subterranean, lespedeza
• pHgt7alfalfa, berseem, sweetclover, vetch, medics
  (?)

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Fertility Management

• Secondary Ca, Mg, S.
• Ca, Mg adjust with lime, or added in fertilizer.
• Sulfur becoming more important
• Micronutrients Zn, Cu, others
• pH regulates
• pHlt5.5 Zn, Cu, others
• pHgt7.5 Fe, others

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Tall Fescue

• Fall management
• Nitrogen (60 units) in August
• graze early, establish white clover
• 30-90 units P for white clover seed
• allow stockpiling in October/November
• Graze moderately

• Spring Management
• No N after Jan. 1
• Manage for white clover growth
• graze hard from mid March - mid June
• no rebreeding or late trimester dams after March
  1
• rest after late June

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Intensive Grazing
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Grazing management

• Graze very lightly early
• knock tips off to encourage tillering
• Limit graze during mid winter
• limit to a few hours of grazing a day unless
  ample has been planted
• Graze hard and heavy in Spring
• Winter pasture growth outstrips animal needs.
  Harvest excess if possible

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Weed Control

• Nonchemical
• mulch
• 4 stubble
• actively growing plants
• prevention
• mulch
• hay feeding
• fence line
• mow reject

• Chemical
• 2,4-D
• Weedmaster
• Grazon PD
• Sulfanyl ureas
• Ally
• Amber
• Rave
• Roundup
• Paraquat