# Drill or Broadcast



## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

I would like to plant a few of my hay fields with annual rye to try and get a good early hay crop. Most literature I have read says not to plant deeper than 1/2". I think a no till would plant too deep. I notice when people seed their lawns they just broadcast. I would like some opinions on broadcasting in an established Bahia Bermuda hay field.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

If you have a prepared seedbed you can broadcast and drag a harrow over and it should be OK. If notil then I would use the drill.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

If the ground is not hard I just run the drill in float. On prepared ground I usually use float as well.

As dry as we are here I may have to use some down pressure when we drill ryegrass.

I know some folks who just broadcast the seed on established pasture and seems to do alright. Some will go over it with a disk, angle taken out, and stir up the dirt a little before they broadcast.


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## Tjim (Feb 23, 2014)

Tim/South said:


> If the ground is not hard I just run the drill in float. On prepared ground I usually use float as well.
> 
> As dry as we are here I may have to use some down pressure when we drill ryegrass.


Exactly the way we do it.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Some no till drills have gage wheels. You would adjust them to obtain the proper death. and then apply the proper amount of pressure to the opener to form the seedbed


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Tim/South said:


> If the ground is not hard I just run the drill in float. On prepared ground I usually use float as well.
> 
> As dry as we are here I may have to use some down pressure when we drill ryegrass.
> 
> I know some folks who just broadcast the seed on established pasture and seems to do alright. Some will go over it with a disk, angle taken out, and stir up the dirt a little before they broadcast.


+2. Here, depends on ground and , we will broadcast overseed on existing fields to keep yields up. Basic method is ammend, prep and drill.


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## Troy Farmer (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks guys. I was worried about planting too deep with a no till. I found an operator's manual for a great plains and found the depth adjustments. I will be renting a drill from the local extension office and they don't have a manual.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Troy Farmer said:


> Thanks guys. I was worried about planting too deep with a no till. I found an operator's manual for a great plains and found the depth adjustments. I will be renting a drill from the local extension office and they don't have a manual.


I'm guessing the manual has a tendency to "disappear" when out on rental.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

What is the method used to plant seed in frost cycles? Frost thaws and seed gets pulled into ground when it freezes? Does this actually work?


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

From the the messages above, I gather that you are going to seed annual *ryegrass*, and not serial rye. Correct??? If seeding annual ryegrass, no deeper than 1/2" is correct. In my opinion, broadcasting annual ryegrass is a waste of seed, but sometimes it is necessary to waste seed this way. If seeding cereal rye, it can be seeded as deep as 1.5 inches, similar to wheat. If the field soil is very uniform, you can set the drill disks using spacers on the hyd. cylinder by trial and error. I have seeded alfalfa to a very good stand using a JD 800 dbl disk opener drill with a small seed box using spacers on the hyd. cylinder and a weighted roller following the drill.


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

I lived in Germany for two years and the annual ryegrass was the worse weed one can imagine. It grew everywhere, the cracks in sidewalks, the mortar between bricks, etc. All it needed was wet and cool. My belief is that if you can keep it wet, it will grow with any seed depth or no depth at all. Good luck!


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

"...if you can keep it wet, it will grow with any seed depth or no depth at all." Thanks Hugh, for the reminder.

I left out that if drill seeded 1/2" deep in soil, the chances of it remaining moist are greater than if left on the soil surface anywhere in southern states where annual ryegrass is fall-seeded with uncertain moisture conditions.


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## Hugh (Sep 23, 2013)

A story about my living in Germany with rye grass. We rented a house on a crazy shaped lot, about 60'x450 feet. (20x150 meters) It rained or misted 90% of days in summer and the the sun was visible about an hour a month. No exaggeration. This place was close to the North Sea and the weather was very cool with a once-in-awhile hot day. The deal was we got a cheap rent but we had to keep it mowed. The rye grew about 6" per week. The mower we had was about a 20" gas mower push type with a 5hp Briggs, made in the USA. At full throttle, the mower would go about 6" into that rye before it stalled, and the rye would bunch-up like heavy mashed potatoes in the deck. I had to tilt the mower, take a screwdriver and dig out the mush. I used the MF word about every 3 seconds. I finally gave up and had to hire someone to keep the place mowed, making our rent expensive. All rye needs is wet and cool - my experience.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Sounds like the old lady who lived down the road from me when I was a kid.

Wanted to pay me $5 to mow a 1/2 acre of knee high weeds.

Old lady Ward......


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## tarrquinn (Jul 5, 2014)

Here I direct drill my rye grass into kikuyu (pull out drop tubes and let fall ontop for betta spacing ).. Which I think is your Bermuda ? But have to use a knock down spray like paraquat or the kik will smoother as I don't frost very often , had 2 this year first in 4 years lol.... It was so cold ????
Or mulch plant into kikuyu again have to check spray but those inland get great results straight mulch planting


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

I have a brillion till and seed which does agitate the ground fairly well, and also just bought a GP 10' no till in partnership with a friend up the road. Have already broken it in. did not want to spend the money to buy, but everytime I rented a gp from the local coop, it was broken, had missing parts and or was clogged requiring 2 days maintenance. Now, all my pressure springs are the same and I have it set for about 1/4" average seeding depth. Did a beautiful job on both OG seeded in the main box and timothy which was dropped from the small seeds box. Great stand of each in two different areas. Much better than my brillion. It is superior in small areas and on partially or fully tilled ground-made for planting teff.

Short version, I would drill, just back the tension off the springs which is easy to do. There is a knob/dial near the tongue that you adjust the depth of coulter cut.


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