# Renovating Bluegrass Pasture on Sand



## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

I got a client in central WI I'm working with to renovate a Kentucky bluegrass pasture for some beef cows he's grazing. He's on some pretty sandy ground that was a mix forest of hardwoods and a lot of pine and he has been thining small chucks land and planting grass underneath the remaining trees. He's got irrigation on this pasture available. On other parts of the farm he's had tall fescue and orchardgrass take hold, but it's going to take a bit to get the soil out of the "forest" cycle of things and into the "pasture" biology. He gots some access to dairy slurry manure and I'm going to have him have than put on next year after each grazing pass. His other soil test numbers are fine, but I'll have him put a little more lime on, though the low organic matter is the bigger issue right now.

I had him spray the bluegrass pasture with a reduced rate of Round-up to knock the bluegrass back and I want him to go in next spring with the Brillion no-til drill he has access to and plant the tall fescue that's already growing in other parts of the farm. Has anyone tried this and have any pointers?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Why not some Red Clover to add some N and give the pasture more feed value?Maybe add some Meadow Brome it is supposed do better than other grasses in dry conditions.(Look at Wisc U yld trials,They do ALOT of testing on forages)


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## UpNorth (Jun 15, 2009)

Every legume this guy has tried has failed so far. I found an alfalfa plant less than 2 inches tall with no space between the internodes and the clovers are very small and patchy. He really wants to try putting some kura clover in with this mix. Kura's tricky to establish, but once it does it can be a great fit or nightmare if there isn't some competitive grasses with them.

Another thing he didn't have enough pasture for his animals and he's going to give his pastures a little longer to recover next year, three to four weeks instead of two to three.

The meadow brome has shown the most promise on the loams in the north central part of the state and most the the trials have been done at Marshfield. I think the meadow brome will turn out fine in most parts of the state, but this guy is on a _beach _of sand and I'm convinced that low organic matter will limit everything until its turned around.

The manure thats coming on will take care of the N and this guy just has beef and is more concerned with the quanity at the present so increasing the feed value is a consideration for the future. Right now he needs the grass to grow.

Thanks for the compliment of our forage researchers. I actually work with Dan Undersander. His opinion on these sands is to plant alfalfa (for its drought tolerance), bluegrass, or side oatsgrama (a warm season grass) maybe some vetch. When I walked this guys pastures last week I thought we could make some of these other grasses work given the irrigation he has available.


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