Dealing with Winter Aftermath

Does your farm look like this right now?

  

This is a photo of a hay feeding area from this past winter.  In most of NC we received a
lot of rain so many of you are left with a similar situation coming out of the winter.

If so, you may want to keep reading.  We had a very wet fall which turned into a very wet winter that left our fields looking like the photo above.  Do not be discouraged, you can turn this mess into a productive grazing area in no time.  My first suggestion is to drag out any remaining hay residue so you do not create a fly breeding ground.  Next, PLANT SOMETHING!  It really doesn’t matter what you plant but you may want to choose a quick growing warm-season annual and then think about permanent cool-season grass in the fall when planting is more optimal for good establishment. 

Some of your warm-season annual options are: millet, crabgrass, sorghum-sudangrass hybrids, sudangrass, and teff grass.  The wonderful thing about an annual is how fast it germinates and grows so you minimize a weed invasion!  If you do not plant something, something WILL GROW!  I can promise you it will be weeds and you will be very unhappy. 

For planting recommendations, make sure you check out NCSU’s all new forage website: http://www.forages.ncsu.edu/production-info.html

For planting techniques, you can use a sod drill or in most cases (if the pasture is chewed up enough) you can broadcast and get great seed to soil contact.  You will need moisture and warm weather (which should not be a problem) before you plant.  Most warm-season annuals are planted in May and you can usually start grazing in June depending on the variety and actual planting date.

The photos below show one of our farm’s sacrifice lots where our horses are fed hay each winter.  The field always gets torn up and buttercups are to follow (remember to spray your buttercups NOW).  The April photo shows the field after the winter (not this year’s winter but the previous year) and the June photo shows the same field after being planted in crabgrass.  For those of you that are curious about the variety, we use Quick-N-Big®.  We then grazed feeder calves and horses on the crabgrass all summer off and on to allow rest and growth.  This is just one of many options!

April

June