Fall Pasture Preparation

As fall quickly approaches getting your pasture ready for cooler weather should be on your to-do list.  Whether you have Bermudagrass, fescue or another type of perennial grass there are several things that should be done in the coming weeks to help your grass make it through the fall and winter.

 

Take a soil sample:  Now is a great time to take a soil sample to determine what needs to be applied to your pasture in early fall.  Your local Extension office has the boxes and forms for the soil analysis and will be happy to answer any questions you have about the sampling process or interpreting your results.  The soil analysis is free March 1 through Thanksgiving and is $4 per sample Dec through the end of Feb.

Make soil amendments:  Early fall is the perfect time to lime your pastures based on what your soil analysis recommends.  Your lime recommendations will be based upon your soil type, what you are growing and what your liming history is like.  In the Sandhills, we usually recommend 1-2 tons per acre each year but it will differ depending on your region.  It takes lime 4-6 months to change the pH of your soil, so liming in the fall is a must for happy spring pastures.  Your soil analysis will also include fertilizer recommendations.  If you have fescue or another type of cool season grass, early fall is the ideal time to get your fertilizer out. You will get a fertilizer recommendation in lbs/acre of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which is useful in calculating what fertilizer to use and how much to put out, but for warm season grasses, nitrogen will be wasted since the plants’ vegitative growth is naturally decreasing.  Too much nitrogen in the fall can actually inhibit the plant from starting its overwintering response.  For cool season grasses such as fescue or orchard grass, a light to moderate application of nitrogen in the fall based on the soil analysis recommendations would be fine.   The most important nutrient you can put out in the fall, however, is potassium, for both warm and cool season grasses.  In the fall, grasses have major root development both in the form of growth for carbohydrate storage for survival through the winter as well as the formation of new growth points.  Potassium is key to good root growth and development.

  

Overseed/reseed:  For Bermudagrass pastures overseeding with a winter annual, usually ryegrass, is a good practice.  Not only does it provide forage for your animals in the months that your Bermuda is dormant but it insulates the dormant Bermuda plants and provides a natural barrier for winter weeds.  You want to seed with rye or ryegrass from late August to mid-October in the piedmont region, with that window closing a little earlier in the mountain region and a little later in the coastal plain region.  Rye and ryegrass can be broadcast or drilled.  For fescue pastures if you noticed your spring pasture was looking a little less lush than it used to, fall is the perfect time to reseed your pastures.  You can seed fescue by itself, but adding some clover into the mix is a great option!  Not only does it give your animals a little variety in their diet and add some nitrogen into your soil but it also helps dilute the fescue which is important if you have an endophyte containing fescue (which most of us do).  Fescue and clover should be seeded about the same time as rye, late August to mid-October, and should be drilled, especially if the seed includes clover.  To determine depths and seeding rates contact your local Extension Office.  

Weed Control:  If your pastures are well managed, such as the fertility being right, ideal pH and overseeding/reseeding, weeds should not be that big of an issue.  In Bermuda pastures, the most useful and effective methods of weed control in the fall is to make the necessary amendments to get the soil fertility and pH right and overseed in the fall.  If the soil fertility is right then your Bermuda should be able to choke out most weeds that try to come up next spring, and overseeding should outcompete most winter weeds.  For fescue pastures the same holds true.  Since fescue is actively growing in the fall and spring, having your fertility and pH right as well as having a strong stand of grass will help to compete with, and hopefully choke out any weeds.  If you feel you need to use chemical control, contact your local Extension Office for recommendations on what will work best for your farm.