Seeking Greener Pastures UT Extension Service hosted a seminar on January 19 By Nancy Brannon Spring is coming! February is not officially a “planting month,” but it’s time to prepare for pasture renovation: planting spring grasses and legumes and planning for weed control. On January 19, the UT Extension Service hosted a seminar on “Pasture Weed Control and Renovation” at Agricenter International in Memphis, TN. About 30 people packed to meeting room to hear Brian White’s presentation on Spring Equine Forage Production. Becky Muller provided information about soil testing n how to do it and a sample soil test report, and handed out the 2010 Weed Control Manual for Tennessee. Basic steps to improve your pastures are: (1) do a soil test analysis; (2) get the pH in order before you re-seed or fertilize. The pH is the indicator of acidity or alkalinity of soil. Pure water is neutral, with a pH of around 7. Soils with a pH less than 7 are acidic and soils with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. “About 55% of soil tests are below 6.0 pH,” White said. “This means that soils will take up less than the optimum amount of fertilizer.” To bring soils to the proper pH, most soils in this region will need liming since there is no naturally occurring limestone. UT Extension has a publication about liming acid soils: http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/pb1096.pdf. (3) Fertilize by soil test. (4) Use clovers (legumes). This plan can help control one of the most prolific “weeds” in this area n broomsedge. It can be crowded out by pasture renovation: lime soils, since it requires pH of 4.9 to 7, reseed, and fertilize according to soil test. Legumes improve soil quality, decrease the need to add nitrogen fertilizer, lengthen the grazing season, and reduce endophyte problems. They are easy to establish and can be planted between February 15 and April 1. Remember the slogan: “2, 4, 8 n Let’s Renovate.” That means spreading per acre: two pounds of white clover (Patriot and Durana are two new varieties), four pounds of red clover, and eight pounds of lespedeza. Before March 1, broadcast the seed. After March 1, drill or incorporate seed. “The ideal time to do it is just before a good snow,” White said. “Sling it on the ground and then put all your livestock on it, and your brother-in-law, to stomp it in. Then remove the livestock (and your brother-in-law) after two weeks.” That should help it make good contact with the soil so it will germinate. White said it is important to manage forages as you would a crop. It is important to cut grasses for hay at their optimum nutritional value. “As forage matures, quality decreases: lower in protein and energy and higher in fiber,” White said. His X-shaped chart illustrated the relationship between quality and yield. “As yield increases, quality decreases. You want to hit the middle of the X and balance quality with yield. That means cutting Bermuda grasses more frequently to keep the protein level up.” The stages to cut particular hays: lespedeza, early bloom; red clover, early to half bloom; fescue, boot (before the seed head comes out) to early head. Bale hay at about 20% moisture, so the grass has just a little bit of “twist” to it. Moisture is the key to yield. Select the proper site for planting. Soils with plenty of organic matter will retain moisture. Organic matter consists of plant and animal material that is in the process of decomposing. When fully decomposed it is called humus. Humus is important for soil structure because it holds individual mineral particles together in clusters. Plant deficiency diseases usually are less severe in soils well supplied with organic matter. The vigor of plants increases because various soil microorganisms become more active in the presence of abundant organic matter. Warm season forages for horses include Bermuda grass, Teff grass, and crab grass. Yes, crabgrass is a good grazing grass! Bermuda is a perennial mainstay in the mid-south and Teff grass is an annual similar to Bermuda, very palatable to horses, but a little stemmier than Bermuda. “When you buy Bermuda seed, don’t buy common. Get a good quality hybrid grass,” White recommended. The second half of White’s presentation was devoted to weed control. “In pastures, plants compete for water, light and nutrients.” Some factors that allow weeds to flourish are overgrazing, droughts, plant diseases and insects, and poor soil fertility.” White’s recommendations for weed control relied solely on herbicides, from 2,4-D to Cimarron, Milestone, and Roundup, to restricted use herbicide Gramoxone. He listed a number of specific pasture weeds, herbicides to use on them, when to apply, and how to properly calibrate spray rigs. He argued, “The biggest gains in forage production result from a combination of weed spraying and fertilization. Don’t feed the weeds!” He showed research data comparing pounds of weeds vs. pounds of grass in pastures under four treatment plans: (1) no fertlizer or herbicide, (2) fertilizer only, (3) herbicide, no fertilizer, (4) herbicide with fertilizer. His conclusions were that treatments 3 and 4 gave the best results for decreasing weeds and increasing grasses. He also compared costs of herbicide use with mowing costs as two methods of controlling weeds. But there are the toxic, serious human health effects and toxic environmental effects of using herbicides. The US EPA website has information on 2, 4-D, for example: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/di-oxyac.html. Before using any chemical herbicides, it would be prudent to research all their possible harmful effects and evaluate whether they outweigh the desired effects of killing weeds in your pastures. If you prefer organic management of pastures and organic hay, there are a number of on-line resources that advise best management practices. Here is a sampling: National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, Pastures: Sustainable Management: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/sustpast.html How To Go Organic, Pasture Management and Grazing: http://www.howtogoorganic.com/index.php?page=pasture-management (also see their page on Animal Manure Management) Extension, Pasture Management on Small Farms: http://www.extension.org/pages/Pasture_Management_on_Small_Farms Organic Farming: Perennial Pasture Management: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nreninf.nsf/v/3B5BD796FB5DF89CCA25740F0075E81F/$file/Organic_Farming_Perennial_Pasture_Management.pdf Alternative Veterinary Medicine Centre, Pasture Management: http://www.alternativevet.org/pasture_management.htm Purdue University Extension Service: Organic and Alternative Livestock Production Systems: http://purdueorganicandalternative.wordpress.com/tag/pasture-management/ (video on controlled, rotational grazing by the University of Tennessee). Forage and Pasture Management Information for Organic, Grass-fed and Pasture-raised Livestock http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/poa/org%20forage.shtml University of Minnesota Extension, Manure and Pasture Management for Recreational Horse Owners http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/components/7540_05.html Tufts University Pasture Management Seminar https://wikis.uit.tufts.edu/confluence/display/tusoh/Pasture+Management. “Organic pasture management leads to better herd health and can be financially beneficial for the producer due to lowering input costs.” Agriculture and Rural Development, Government of Alberta, “Manure and Pasture Management for Horse Owners: Managing Manure by Spreading on Cropland or Pasture,” http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex8014