by Chris Hicks, County Director – UT Extension Smith County
To say we have had a wet winter would be a pretty big understatement. Mud, mud, and more mud has been the topic of conversation for farmers struggling to feed hay throughout this past winter. With all this mud and heavy traffic around feeding areas, these spots will be in desperate need of some attention once hay feeding season has ended.
If left alone, these areas will not only be so rough you won’t be able to drive across them without a helmet, they will also be heavily infested with weeds like pigweed. Smoothing these areas out and reseeding them will be a worthy use of a cattle producer’s time.
So what are some good seed options for these areas where hay was fed this winter? Well, let’s begin with what might not be a good option. Tall fescue, which is the predominant forage in TN, just doesn’t do very well when seeded in the spring. Add in the fact that you will likely destroy this same area when feeding hay next year, and a perennial might not be the best choice.
Annual grasses are likely to be a better route. My friend and fellow Extension Agent Matt Webb in Marshall County did some test plots at the Middle TN Research & Education Center in 2019 trying different annuals around hay feeding areas. He looked at cool season species such as oats and ryegrass, as well as crabgrass for a warm season alternative.
All the plots were given a rough disking and then planted by broadcasting seed on April 3. Some of the highlights of the study include:
- Annual ryegrass or oats can give quick cover and about a ton/acre 60 days after sowing.
- Crabgrass either sown or from the seedbank gives high yields.
- When mixing crabgrass with oats or ryegrass, crabgrass germination was inhibited by the winter annuals, but became the dominant component by July. It might help to lightly graze the winter annual so they do not smother out emerging crabgrass.
- Not overgrazing the crabgrass and allowing it to seed out at some point during the growing season will allow it to come back from seed next year.
I would add that the time of year you finish feeding hay will have a bearing on what you plant in these areas. If you are feeding hay until the middle of April or later, you probably won’t get a lot of benefit from planting oats or ryegrass before the heat kills them. Many producers have had good success planting sudex around these areas, although it will not give the advantage of coming back from seed next year like crabgrass.
Whichever species you choose, it will be important to plant something or at least spray for weeds around these hay feeding areas. Doing nothing will ensure you have a heavy weed seedbank in these spots for years to come. For more information, contact the University of Tennessee Extension office at 615-735-2900.
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