# Jiggs vs Tifton 85 for Horses + Establishment



## WSFarms (Mar 5, 2011)

Sorry if long....I am trying to replant part of my place and am looking for some advice.

Some background:
We have 93 acres 5 miles south of Brenham Texas on highway 36 on the Austin - Washington county line. The land is mainly backland/heavy clay with about 5- 10 acres of sand - sandy loam on one side it once was part of a 200 acre track that was farmed with cotton and corn.

Of the 93 acres, we could have about 80 acres is in hay production when you discount the house, pond/tank, barns, etc. Right now we have 52 acres in hay (Coastal - 40 acres, Jiggs - 10 acres and some common - 2 acres). That leaves about 28 acres that I want to replant. Last year we broke up and deep chisel plowed all the 28 acres and sprigged 15 acres of coastal - it was too dry to do the other 13 acres. We have an irrigation system and tried to keep it moist but because the drought was so severe and the temperatures were so high and we needed to water our other fields, we got a poor stand - to no stand and only weeds. We put in 40 bushels/acre but without H2O, it was a lost cause. I followed all of Dr Burtons (from University of Georgia) recommendations and even spoke and traded emails with Dr. Redmon at Texas A&M. If only we had gotten the rain we are getting now last year. So far we have gotten 11" in 2012 and 20" since Oct 1, 2011. Just got 2.35" on Saturday and it's raining now.

When deciding what to plant, I struggled between Coastal, Jiggs and Tifton 85 but went with coastal because, we are trying to get into the horse hay business and it is growing on our place now. The little bit of Jiggs we have always out-produces the coastal and we have it on both sandy-loam and blackland soil. The guy that provides our farm service (Herbicide and Fertilizer), swears by Tifton 85, but he feeds it to his cows - not horses. He even gave my son and me a Home Depot orange bucket of runners/stolens and we planted them on about a 20' x 20' patch near our barns and babied it (water and fertilizer) to see if it would grow in our blackland/clay soil. Sure enough, it did well even with the 100-110 degree days we had last summer.

Now that we have rain, it would be ideal to get the place planted this year and not lose another year.

Questions:
1) Which one is best for horse hay - Tifton 85 or Jiggs? The stems of Tifton 85 are very large compared to Coastal and Jiggs&#8230;would/do horses eat it well? (most horse hay owners around here want Coastal)

2) Would it make more sense to go with Jiggs since we know it grows well on our place now? (the Tifton 85 does too but it took a lot of babysitting type watering&#8230;worried that it may take the same on the 28 acres that I want to plant)

3) It's the end of Feb 2012 and it may be too late to get Tifton 85 in the ground - because I think it takes better if sprigged. We would have to get the ground ready (re plow with disk harrow and re-drag). How long do I have to get the sprigs in the ground (Apr, May&#8230;.even June)?

4) Tifton 85 planted with tops&#8230;how successful is that usually? 20, 30, 50% or higher?

5) Jiggs planted with tops&#8230;how successful is that usually? 20, 30, 50% or higher?

6) Because of the Blackland/clay soil which would be the most likely to make it&#8230;Jiggs or Tifton 85?

7) How much more hay would Tifton 85 make vs. Jiggs? From what I have seen/read they are about the same to maybe Tifton 85 making 10% more. Both probably beat coastal by about 20-30%

8) For Jiggs, should I cut my Jiggs fields (or part) and spread and disc/roll those in (it is supposed to be easy to get going with tops)?

9) How late can you plant with tops?

10) Other suggestions would be appreciated


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

WSFarms said:


> 1) Which one is best for horse hay - Tifton 85 or Jiggs? The stems of Tifton 85 are very large compared to Coastal and Jiggs&#8230;would/do horses eat it well? (most horse hay owners around here want Coastal)


I'm about 25 miles SE of you. I do T-85 for horses (I'm a breeder/etc) and they prefer it over Jiggs or Coastal. Most horse owners don't even understand that hay is dry grass...much less the type of grass. You will find many owners with strange notions about what horses will eat, but the reality is they will pretty much eat most grasses and given the choice, they'll often go after the Bahia. It makes good hay also. Mine are eating ryegrass right now. Larry Redmon has published a lot of comparisons and T-85 always comes out on top.



WSFarms said:


> 2) Would it make more sense to go with Jiggs since we know it grows well on our place now? (the Tifton 85 does too but it took a lot of babysitting type watering&#8230;worried that it may take the same on the 28 acres that I want to plant)


I like Tifton better. They both like water and fertilizer. All things being equal the Tifton will out produce the Jiggs and, I think, do a lot better in a drought.



WSFarms said:


> 3) It's the end of Feb 2012 and it may be too late to get Tifton 85 in the ground - because I think it takes better if sprigged. We would have to get the ground ready (re plow with disk harrow and re-drag). How long do I have to get the sprigs in the ground (Apr, May&#8230;.even June)?


You need ground temps around 65F for it to grow. Bermuda is dormant right now. I've got a field that I'll probably sprig in May. You need good ground moisture so April/May is usually the best time because we usually get rain then.



WSFarms said:


> 4) Tifton 85 planted with tops&#8230;how successful is that usually? 20, 30, 50% or higher?


I've heard it can be done, but never actually seen it. From what I've heard probably 20-30%



WSFarms said:


> 5) Jiggs planted with tops&#8230;how successful is that usually? 20, 30, 50% or higher?


Probably 95% of the Jiggs I've seen was planted with tops. You just have to make sure they are FRESH and ideally not more than a couple of hours old.



WSFarms said:


> 6) Because of the Blackland/clay soil which would be the most likely to make it&#8230;Jiggs or Tifton 85?


Personally I think the T-85 is better, but it depends on soil fertility, how its established, and if/when it rains.



WSFarms said:


> 7) How much more hay would Tifton 85 make vs. Jiggs? From what I have seen/read they are about the same to maybe Tifton 85 making 10% more. Both probably beat coastal by about 20-30%


That sounds about right, I try to cut every 25-28 days and usually get 5-6 cuttings.



WSFarms said:


> 8) For Jiggs, should I cut my Jiggs fields (or part) and spread and disc/roll those in (it is supposed to be easy to get going with tops)?
> 
> 9) How late can you plant with tops?
> 
> 10) Other suggestions would be appreciated


I've heard of people cutting their Jiggs, flinging it out with a manure spreader, disking it in and getting a great stand out of it. I've also heard of a lot of failures using that approach. PM me and I can give you the names/phone numbers of the guys around here that seem to be successfully getting both started. I wouldn't do it past early-June because the rain is too iffy. I prefer sprigs because if you get the rain, I think you have a better chance of getting a stand.


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## WSFarms (Mar 5, 2011)

Mike120:

Thanks so much. I sent you a PM for those contacts.


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

1. We put up a lot of hay for the horse market with the majority of it being Tifton 85 and, if put up right is the most asked for hay we have.

2. Both are good grasses and, although we currently do not have any Jiggs on our place I would not be afraid of it.

3. It is not to late to sprig Tifton 85. Our season runs from mid March to June 1 for sprigging 85 and Jiggs would be on a similar time table. If you have any grasses or competition weeds coming up I would first wait until it greened up good then hit it with a good dose of roundup before preparing my land.

4&5. I would be wary of buying tops and having it put out that way. I know some areas of the country where that works but, I would not recommend putting out tops.

6. We have planted a lot of Tifton 85 in black land type soils around the Greenville and Paris TX areas with good success.

7. I think 10% is a reasonable difference between the two and if a good year with the right fertilizer 85 will produce 40-50% more hay than coastal.

8. If you have an established field of Jiggs you could try.

9. I guess as long as you have moisture in the ground.


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## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

To much to read right now... but in short if your are wanting to sell horse hay in this area, IMO, you will not want tifton. The only reason people get tifton from me is by request. Now, on the other hand, get them started on it and they wont want anything else. The problem user with tifton is to make good hay for horses you have cut it so short. It still costs the same to make it but you get less number of bales per acre. If its for yourself like Mike does thats fine. I do like tifton just not for commercial hay production to small of window to be horse hay.
Jiggs does well in blackland I've heard as well as coastal. I would probly go with Jiggs.


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

jdhayboy said:


> The problem user with tifton is to make good hay for horses you have cut it so short. It still costs the same to make it but you get less number of bales per acre. If its for yourself like Mike does thats fine. I do like tifton just not for commercial hay production to small of window to be horse hay.


I disagree we cut ours around every 28 days and it yields more per cutting than the other grasses.


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## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

I will agree with you.... im saying the window to cut it is shorter for it to be what people want. Im not in the business to convince people to buy what is better for their animals, I give them what they want. And my neck of the woods they dont want tifton. They've been burned way to many times because lets their tifton get to rank. Tifton I think may be better suited for a little drier climate than mine. Its harder to dry here which is the last thing i need. I'm just telling you the feedback of the people. I know the hay is good thats why feed most of it.


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## WSFarms (Mar 5, 2011)

Jdhayboy:

Where are you located? Average rainfall for my location is 42-44" per year and most of that is from hurricanes. Humidity is high during the summer (normally)


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

jdhayboy said:


> And my neck of the woods they dont want tifton. They've been burned way to many times because lets their tifton get to rank.


Sadly, he is correct. Many people put in Tifton 85 and then relied on custom balers who show up whenever they show up. As a result, a lot of the T-85 hay you see around here is pretty terrible and it has given T-85 a bad name. Tifton-85 needs to be cut on a regular 25-28 day schedule or it gets stemmy. I have never had any problem drying it, but I use a sickle and leave decent stubble for it to lay on. Jdhayboy uses a windrower and I can see where the larger leaf could take longer to dry.


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## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

WS, just right down the road from u in hockley. 290 and hegar rd. Probly 30 miles east of u


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## WSFarms (Mar 5, 2011)

Thanks for all the great input. I have a Krone Disc mower.
Plan to cut on a 21-28 day cycle. I like Tifton but it seems that Jiggs may be best for me. I already have some so I know it will/should take. Plus it is fast growing too and can get stemmy if cut missed, but not as much as Tifton. Both are good grasses.


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