# Starting a orchard grass stand



## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Hey yall,

We have a 10 acre field that is leased and planted in corn right now. After they harvest this corn I plan on trying to plant a stand of orchard grass and was looking for any tips you might have. My plan is to spray the field and then disk it up. After that I was going to broadcast seed and use a cultipactor over it. If you guys can give me some suggestions that would be great. Thanks.

Kyle


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Kyle, its great to have you on board here at haytalk. The biggest thing with Orchard Grass in Tennessee is that it matures very early(first part of May except on the Plateau). BE SURE to get a late maturing variety like Late Mate II which will mature 14-18 days later than the common varieties. The temperature at this time will be much more conducive to curing hay in a reasonable amount of time (2-3 days). Be sure and check out under the "community" heading the NEW state of Tennessee Group and sign on so we can get our own "local" hay discussions going on. I found planting forage about October 1 is about right as the temps begin to cool and the rainfall begins to increase after the usual dry months of August and September. Regards, Mike


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Mike,

Thanks for the info. See you on the local side!

Kyle


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## Barry Bowen (Nov 16, 2009)

The first year you have the orchard in, it will not be ready in early May. They tend to be a good month later on first cutting of first growth. Discing it up is good, but broad casting is not going to give anywhere near the germination rate that using a goo JD no-till will. They way those drills are made you can do an extremely even job of getting the seed in the ground and getting it covered. Some dealers will rent them if they have them, or try soil conservation in your area and see what they have.

What is the base saturation on Calcium in your soil? It should be up around 85%. On the soil test, how many pounds of Calcium is there per acre? This should be up around 3500 or better. If these are too low, the grass will not do well at all starting, so you may need to add lime before you disc the field. Fall is the best time of year to do this, but I have gotten really good stands in the spring also as long as there was enough rain. Minimun seed rate should be 15-20 pounds per acre. If you use the drill do it in two passes, perpendicular, or at least not parrallel. I have gone as high as 30 pounds to the acre this way and it was nice and thick. Almost eliminated the need for herbicide after the first year. This does not put all the seed in one pass and allows more space for the seeds to grow. This thick though and you need to put more fertilizer on to feed all the plants. When you finally get to cutting, cut it high at 4 inches, regrowth will be much faster and the plants will be healthier.

Some people consider this next idea a little far out, but on extablished fields, not seedling, atleast been through one full cutting year, try taking a rotary mower to it in the early spring when it is about 6" tall, and then do it again when it hit 6"again, but no more than 3 times if the spring is really wet. This will move your window for first cutting back to around Memorial day and into the better weather. Yes you will get about 20 bales less to the acre, but you will also cut the seed shafts down by as much as 75% depending on the spring. Just an idea for you, it has worked well for me now for several years.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

"After that I was going to broadcast seed and use a cultipactor over it." Kyle, if you work the ground up fairly well and use the culti-packer before and after seeding(1 pass after seeding) you will get a very good stand if moisture is timely. I do it both ways and have had excellent stands by broadcasting when I have used a culti-packer. Regards, Mike


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

I haven't done a soil test on this field yet but will definitely do that before I start the seeding process. I can get a no till drill without any trouble I just didn't know if that would be better than broadcasting or not. Thanks for all your help.

Kyle


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Only thing I don't like about the notill drill is it is in rows.I do use a JD 750 wiyh 7.5" spacing.Some drills have 10" spacing and hay may fall in between the rows insteasd of staying on top of stubble.I've seen were some have drilled twice at 2 different angles.


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## Ridgerunner (Jul 10, 2009)

I drilled my orchard grass with a haybuster. I rented it from Southern States, where I bought the seed. I have never measured the row spacing, but it is probably about 6". This worked very well, everything came up nicely. My orchard grass was very slow to establish. I planted in October and got a light cutting in August almost a year later. By the second spring, I had a good stand.

Remember, lime is very slow to move into the soil. So apply lime at least 6 months prior to seeding.


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

Ok guys so the corn is up pretty high and I'm sure it won't be long before they cut it for silage. After its cut should i spray it and if so what with? Do I need to turn it over with a plow or just disc it? Thanks for all your help!

Kyle


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Disc and a plow are both pretty good compaction tools. The plow will get you a cleaner seed bed, while discing would be faster, it will leave a lot of root balls to content with. Wouldn't have access to a chisel plow would you? Use three inch twisted shovels, bury a lot of residue that way. Run a field cultivator over it after chiseling, or better yet if you have one, an old spring tooth drag is one of the best leveling tools around.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

tnwalkingred said:


> Hey yall,
> 
> We have a 10 acre field that is leased and planted in corn right now. After they harvest this corn I plan on trying to plant a stand of orchard grass.... and was looking for any tips you might have. My plan is to spray the field and then disk it up. After that I was going to broadcast seed and use a cultipactor over it. If you guys can give me some suggestions that would be great. Thanks.
> 
> Kyle


Two thoughts:

First, and most important, planting after you get the corn out might be a little late. Around here, the recommended dates for planting is Aug. 15th to Sept 15th and most corn is picked around early to mid Oct. Your stand might not get established well enough to make it through the winter. You might consider frost seeding, especially if you're going to broadcast. I have had pretty good luck doing that. I have not had much success with spring planting of grasses.

Second, what are you planning to spray with? Most weeds will have gone inactive by that time, so something like roundup probably wouldn't do much good. Other chemicals could have residual replant time which could interfere with your stands germination.

Ralph


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I have planted stands of Orchard Grass the first part of November and have been very successful so doing here in Tennessee. Grass will grow in Tennessee about 10 1/2 months of the year with the exception of the Plateau. Usually Jan. and the first two weeks of Feb. are the dormant months. We do get some hard freezes, but seldom more than a few days with most of those days warming up above freezing. If Tnwalkingred gets his seed in the ground sometime in Oct. he should have a good stand of grass. I find that Oct, 1 is optimal as the temps are beginning to moderate(out of the 90's) and we are beginning to get more moisture. Regards, Mike


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## tnwalkingred (Jun 8, 2010)

I do have a chisel plow as well as a drag. I just didn't know which combination would be the best to improve my chances of keeping the weed content down. My girlfriends father is a dairy farmer and they started cutting silage today on his place so I'm sure it won't be long before they cut the corn in my soon-to-be orchard grass lot. I had planned on planting this field sometime in October. Mike knows the climate here in TN and as had good sucess doing it at that time of the year. As far as what I'm going to srpay I'm not sure. That's kinda why I stared this thread!!!!! LOL. Thanks for all your help guys.

Kyle


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