I am eager to get my hay field going again this upcoming growing season and want to be sure and get off to a good start. The hay field is about 20 acres. Last year's last cut (October) yielded forty-five roundbales. They were 35% Coastal, 35% Gordo, 20% Johnson grass and 10% various broadleaf species. (I'd like for it to be 100% Coastal.) Last year, in late January, I root plowed and deep disked it. I did my soil sample and fertilized accordingly (21-7-3 at a rate of 300lb's per acre) after the first cut. Also I used 1.5 pints of Grazon P+D per acre along with the fertilizer mentioned above to help knock out the broadleaf species and Johnson grass. It did indeed help some, but not enough. The second cut still had various broadleaf species and Johnson grass. But it was better than the first cut. This year I'd like to try something different. Something that would be a little more agressive against the Johnson Grass/broadleaf species, even if it temperarely "shocks" the field and sets me back in time from the first harvest. I'm willing to sacrifice the normal first cut, if it means having a cleaner yield of hay later. My question is.....Would it be beneficial to spray the field with Roundup (around 1.5 pints per acre) now knowing that it might "set back" my first cut? Or, is there something else that you can recommend that I should do in order to yield better hay (horse quality). You might say....I'm going for hay quality, not quantity. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Plateau herbicide will kill most of the johnsongrass at 6 oz/acre, but it WILL hammer the bermudagrass. Also, Plateau will no longer be offered to producers after the supply that is currently out on dealers' shelves has been exhausted, so if you want to use this product, you had better hurry. Beyond that, spot treating the johnsongrass with Roundup or using a carpet roller/wick on the taller johnsongrass with Roundup will also work. Although I know that 12-16 oz/acre of Roundup will not permanently injur bermudagrass that is healthy and vigorously growing, I am reluctant to recommend it just in case someone did lose their field due to sprayer calibration errors, etc. So, the bottom line is Plateau, spot treat with Roundup, or use a carpet roller/wick.

Just so you will know, Grazon P+D has no activity on johnsongrass, but is a dynamite product for broadleaf weeds. So is Weedmaster and Cimarron Max (don't use with bahiagrass, however), and 2,4-D. I would apply these products early in the growing season when the broadleaf annual weeds are no taller than 2-3". Another strategy you may wish to employ is to burn your bermudagrass field just prior to greenup to clean up the field of any winter annual weeds that may have developed in the field.

Always fertilize according to soil test. I wonder where you are that the recommendation for potassium was only 9 lbs/ac. You must be in central to west Texas and have a soil that is high in potassium; this is a gift since bermudagrass will remove about 50 lbs of potassium per ton of hay removed. And if you are really interested in the whole field becoming Coastal, you will need to destroy everything else in the field, work up an excellent seedbed, and plant about 60 bushels of Coastal sprigs per acre to get good coverage the first year.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me.

Larry

I have about the same problem as the other gentleman. I have 3 fields of coastal with broadleaf weeds and johnson grass. Can I mix Cimmaron and liquid fertilizer for ground spray application to control all weeds? We are in Williamson County and emergence has started. Is there a better route to take for a weedkiller?
Thank you, Becky

Becky,
Cimmaron will control a broad range of broadleaf weeds while leaving the established grasses alone and can be applied in a mixture with fertilizer. It won't control the Johnsongrass either. If you have the option to graze the pasture early cattle should eat the Johnsongrass down and it doesn't stand up to grazing well.

By knocking it down this year and getting your coastal up and growing strong you shouldn't have as much a problem with it next year and you can always spot treat with Round Up as Dr. Redmon mentioned.

In April I planted 55 acres of WW B-Dahl bluestem mixed with Wilman lovegrass and Indian grass and have a nice stand up about 5-6 inches tall. Weeds, particularly croton, and Johnson grass are becoming a problem however, so I would like to use a herbicide. I was told Cimmaron would work without injuring the grasses. Does this seem reasonable and if so could you recommend a rate to apply? I was told not to use P+D as it is too agressive to newly established grasses. Thanks,

Bill,
Cimarron Max is recommended for control of croton and other broadleaf weeds in pasture and should be ok for your situation. The rates are listed on the bottle and we recommend rate 1 for this type of application through late summer. The earlier you treat the croton the better result you will get. If it gets much over 4-6" tall and starts to get a woody stem go up to rate 2.

I am using rate 1 and rate 2 instead of actual percentages because Cimarron Max comes in two parts and the differing rates require mixture of parts A and B in varying amounts. I recommend reading the label closely to make sure you get the mixture correct.

Control of Johnson grass is harder and there are really only a couple options and they depend on your management goals. The cheapest and easiest way to remove Johnson grass from a pasture is to graze it in late spring when it first starts to come up. Johnson grass can’t stand grazing pressure and cows will eat young Johnson grass like ice cream.

If that isn’t an option the next best thing is to spot treat with Round Up. This can be done with either a direct spray or a wicking rig that wipes the herbicide on the leaves. The Johnson grass should be taller than everything else and you should be able to wipe the Round Up on only the Johnson grass. I have seen some good wicking set ups and some not so good ones that had a lot of dripping of the herbicide, which is obviously going to kill anything it falls on. I will let you decide the best method of treatment for your goals.

What kind of summer overseeding would work to improve coastal forage ?

"a carpet roller/wick on the taller johnsongrass with Roundup" --- can you buy one of these, or is this something homemade.

John,
There isn't any over seeding that would improve coastal but there are other things that can be done to help your forage production.

First and foremost would be to have a soil sample tested and fertilize based on the recommendations.

Second you could run a pasture renovator or simple lightly disc the coastal. This breaks the stolons and causes them to put down more roots and eventually put out more leaf area from each new node.

In conjunction these two practices should help your summer forage production.

Clay,
The only one's I know about are home made. You might check with your local producers coop or tractor supply or other feed store.

Question about planting Tifton tops in late summer (August/September when the rains typically return). Just closed on 50 acres in Bastrop area and after root plowing some mesquite would like to try to get at least some Tifton established. Is there any strategy for this since we missed the typical spring planting schedule?

If Tifton should wait for spring, after root plowing what forage should we seed to keep the soil in place and keep the beds level for spring sprigging?

Finally, since timing may just be plain "off" what herbicide/fertilizer combo should we spray to make the best with what we have this summer?

Thanks in advance for your help, and I appreciate all experience and suggestions.

In the first place, if you only have 35% bermudagrass, making good horse hay is going to be challenging, to say the least. Unfortunately, there are not many herbicides that are presently marketed that will take out the johnsongrass and not the bermudagrass with a broadcast application. If you can still find some Plateau on dealers' shelves, you could apply 4-6 oz/acre and deal with the johnsongrass, but expect significant injury/set back of the bermudagrass. Another possibility would be spot treating colonies or clumps of johnsongrass with a 1.5% solution of Roundup or use a wick applicator with the same concentration of Roundup to wick-apply the Roundup to the taller johnsongrass. One and one-half pints of Roundup broadcast into the bermudagrass field is okay according to the Roundup label for control of johnsongrass, but I would expect significant burn down of the bermudagrass. IF (and I must emphasize "if") you choose this route, make sure you have very good growing conditions and apply when the johnsongrass is no more than 24 to 30" tall.

NOTE: At this time, we do NOT have good growing conditions, so I would consider postponing any treatment until next spring.

Thanks for the inquiry.

Larry

I want to know the nutritional value of B-Dahl and side oats for horses. Do you folks know?

I LIVE IN WESTERN WA. I DONT KNOW WHAT KIND OF GRASS HAY EVRY ONE GROWS, WE HAD ABOUT 10 DAYS OF HOT WEATHER ABOUT 85 87 .EVERY ONE CUT THERE HAY. BUT THE GROUND WAS SO DRY AND THE FEILDS WERE COMING UP SHORT, MOST OF EVERY ONE WERE GETING HALF OF WHAT THEY ALWAYS TAKE OFF THERE FEILDS AND WITH THE WEATHER WAS SO HOT WHEN THEY PUT THERE HAY UP. BUT THE BALES AND ROLLS ARE HOT WHY WOULD THAT BE? TO DIFRENT FARMERS DIFRENT FEILDS, SO IF EVERY THING WAS SO DRY WHY IS THE HAY HOT. THANKS

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