Pasture grass types

[zleinenbach]

Do any of you guys have recommendations on grasses that are more resistant to flooding? Obviously no grass would take being underwater all the time, but we have some River bottom ground that is tough to plant but I feel would be good for running Cattle on

[5288IH]

Seaweed

 

[5288IH]

Now on a more serious note in Australia, Premier digit grass, bambasti, gatton grass, phalaris but that is in Australia also depends on Australia

[Mike H]

this is who I use for seed mix

https://greencover.com/

we have a short growing season and I used their early start release this spring on a pasture that was bare from the pigs

worked great, had standing water from the thaw and the seed did awesome 

got the little piglets on now.

https://greencover.com/shop/early-start-release-broadcast/

I am working a fella named Colton ,, he is in sales

check them out

Mike

 

[M35A2]

Reeds Canary grass works well in wet areas. 

 

Quote

 

 

[red2thebone sr]

If you go with Reeds Canary Grass make sure it’s a low alkali variety. Also there are some switchgrass varieties well adapted to wet areas. 

[zleinenbach]

anything cows will mow down better than another? 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

The seed company I buy from has a waterway mix that's Bromegrass, Tall Fescue & Perennial Ryegrass. It was developed for Iowa Conservation Division & is meant to hold the ground & make good hay. Don't know who in the area is buying it, but it's usually one of the first ones scratched off the inventory list at the elevator.

Mike

[1256pickett]

Reeds canary grows well in wet soils. My cows don’t like it on pasture if it gets even the slightest bit on the mature side. Unfortunately it seems to jump quick on me. Now dry hay they will eat pretty good. I think I heard there are some new varieties available now that are more palatable. 

[sandhiller]

3 hours ago, 1256pickett said:

Reeds canary grows well in wet soils. My cows don’t like it on pasture if it gets even the slightest bit on the mature side. Unfortunately it seems to jump quick on me. Now dry hay they will eat pretty good. I think I heard there are some new varieties available now that are more palatable. 

I have a lot of reed canary around the wet spots in my hay meadows, grows wild, never introduced that I know of. Only see it in wet years.

Cows seem to eat it okay mixed with other native grass mixed in.

It will get tall and steamy.

One year I went back in and cut the regrowth and baled.

Got it put up perfect and thought it would be a real treat.

Saved it for bale rings in the corrals during calving 

Cows hated it, wound up taking it out and spreading it in some blowouts.

Cows never did eat it 

I will never be able to outguess a cow☹️

[1256pickett]

17 minutes ago, sandhiller said:

I will never be able to outguess a cow☹️

The joys of raising livestock. 

[Rick G.]

6 hours ago, 1256pickett said:

Reeds canary grows well in wet soils. My cows don’t like it on pasture if it gets even the slightest bit on the mature side. Unfortunately it seems to jump quick on me. Now dry hay they will eat pretty good. I think I heard there are some new varieties available now that are more palatable. 

For the unedumacated cattle pasture people like me, what does “jump” mean when being used in this case?

Grows too fast? Goes to be seed too fast? Dries out too fast?

Thanks in advance. 

 

[iowaboy1965]

6 minutes ago, Rick G. said:

For the unedumacated cattle pasture people like me, what does “jump” mean when being used in this case?

Grows too fast? Goes to be seed too fast? Dries out too fast?

Thanks in advance. 

 

I would guess he means grows too fast and gets to a stage they don't eat it as well.

[red2thebone sr]

11 hours ago, red2thebone sr said:

If you go with Reeds Canary Grass make sure it’s a low alkali variety. Also there are some switchgrass varieties well adapted to wet areas. 

I had a slight error in this. Should be “low alkaloid” not alkali. The high alkaloid levels in the old original were what made it somewhat unpalatable. There are newer varieties that are low alkaloid. 

[Gearclash]

Reed’s canary grass is indeed unfazed by any amount of flooding, and also largely unbothered by drought.  But it takes management to get cattle to eat it.  IMO the best thing to do with canary grass is hay it, so you can harvest all of it at the opportune stage of growth.  Stuff grows like mad, so I don’t think cattle can graze it and stay ahead of it.  

That said, under the water in the photos to be attached is some form of fescue;  this pasture went underwater more times that I can remember (6 times maybe?) in less than 18 months across 2018 and 2019.  It was hard on the fescue but it is still there.  Last picture is the same pasture this summer.

[1256pickett]

3 hours ago, Rick G. said:

For the unedumacated cattle pasture people like me, what does “jump” mean when being used in this case?

Grows too fast? Goes to be seed too fast? Dries out too fast?

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

2 hours ago, iowaboy1965 said:

I would guess he means grows too fast and gets to a stage they don't eat it as well.

My choice of words might not have made sense there but yes it jumps in maturity. Goes from not enough growth to graze or harvest to over ripe to where they don’t like to eat it in what seems like a couple days. It’s probably more like a week or more but I get so busy it seems like days. 

[cobfly]

Perhaps Garrison Meadow Foxtail. Not regular foxtail. Grown in swampy meadows in Idaho for pasture or hay.

[acem]

In my rice fields I have trouble with barnyard grass, broadleaf signalgrass and sprangletop grass. Cattle eat all of them but signalgrass, like crabgrass, is hard to cure for hay. They all grow in water.

Thx-Ace