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Kosse hosts pasture/grass seminar |
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By JULIET BRISKIN | Central Texas Edition |
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May 23, 2002 -- Spring is here which means the Extension Service is out in force educating farmers and ranchers about forages, native grasses, and improved pasture management. On May 15, the Falls, Limestone and Robertson County Extension offices hosted a native pasture/improved grass seminar at the Kosse Community Center in Kosse. Dr. Twain Butler, Extension agronomist from Stephenville, discussed the benefits and differences between native and introduced grasses. "Typically all of our bermudagrasses are introduced species," said Butler. "And the native species that we usually plant are big blue, little blue, Indian, and switch." Butler explained that the improved pastures are generally monocultures of introduced species. These species typically flower about the same time and have a high percentage of viable seeds compared to the native species, which have a high percentage of dormant seed. According to Butler, because the native plants flower at different times throughout the season it is very hard to obtain seeds from them. "It is more expensive to plant native grass seed because the percentage of pure seed and the percentage of germination are a lot lower," he explained. Of all the grasses, Coastal is one of the most productive, Butler stated. Seeded grasses are approximately 75 to 80 percent as productive as Coastal. "Is this good or bad?" asked Butler. "Well it depends on your management scenario. If you don't fertilize Coastal bermudagrass with high levels of fertility and especially high levels of nitrogen fertilizer, you can't keep Coastal bermudagrass there. But you can keep some of the other seeded grasses because they do not have nearly the fertility requirements to maintain Coastal." Generally it takes Coastal bermudagrass three years to become fully established according to Butler. "All of our perennial grasses take a long time to get established," he said. "You can pretty much count on one full year and sometimes two." When asked about the best way to seed an area Butler said that he recommends clean tilling the soil and then running roller packer over the soil to firm it. Then put the seed down and run the roller packer over it again. "You don't drill it (the seed) in," he said. "If you get the seed in more than a quarter of an inch it will not come up." When comparing Tifton 85 to Coastal, Butler found that the Tifton 85 is about 25 to 30 percent more productive than Coastal. "Right now we are recommending the Tifton 85 bermudagrass over Coastal because it is higher in production and easier to digest," he said. "Tifton 85 is about 10 percent more digestible and you can basically use it in both a stocker operation or a cow-calf operation." Butler went on to discuss some of the key differences between Tifton 85 and Coastal. "You can sprig Coastal when it is dormant but you have to wait until Tifton 85 fully greens up to sprig it," he said. "You can plant tops of Tifton 85 but you cannot with Coastal." For more information visit Dr. Butler's web site at: http://foragesoftexas.tamu.edu. |
