Sod Seeding....

[tweaker101]

I'm sure this has been talked about in the past. I would like to seed a annual forage crop into a existing old hay field for this year to boost production and then seed back into a regular hay producing hay field the following spring?. Does anyone have much experience with doing this sort of thing or am I better to just pull out the disk and go at it?. Looking for verification and ideas.

[farmboy1]

I'm from the east, but things shouldn't be that much different. A no till seeder will work well. The key is to get it in early before it gets hot and the ground dries out. Those seedlings need root structure to survive hot weather later. I hired a fellow farmer to no till a perennial grass in last mid-May and it worked well.

[grassfarmer]

I always use the zero-till drill if possible - cheaper, faster and conserves both moisture and organic matter. I'd recommend killing the existing stand to reduce competition for the annual crop and also to get over the autotoxicity issue if there is alfalfa in your hay stand.

[WiltonRanch]

I wonder too if a guy shouldn’t crop it 2 years before putting it back to grass. Like grass mentioned negative aleopathic effects of dying alfalfa inhibiting new alfalfa plants takes time to subside. Also gives you a couple years to band extra nutrients for subsequent hay crops.

[tweaker101]

I wonder too if a guy shouldn’t crop it 2 years before putting it back to grass. Like grass mentioned negative aleopathic effects of dying alfalfa inhibiting new alfalfa plants takes time to subside. Also gives you a couple years to band extra nutrients for subsequent hay crops.

I guess a guy could plant annual crop and load it up with multiple varieties and try and built up the nitrogen and other soil nutrients in a few years and also give it a little break from alfalfa then plant a per annual crop... might also be a great way to get rid of the moles and gophers atleast for a few years.

[woodland]

I always use the zero-till drill if possible - cheaper, faster and conserves both moisture and organic matter. I'd recommend killing the existing stand to reduce competition for the annual crop and also to get over the autotoxicity issue if there is alfalfa in your hay stand.

Definitely nuke the existing stand before trying anything. Quite a few have tried seeding cereals into tired hay or pasture without killing it off and hardly nothing grew.

[shtferbrains]

Try get it sprayed out in summer or fall yr before seeding.
If you wait till spring you have to wait for at least 3 leaves before spraying or you can't get those old deep roots. By that time you seedbed is powder dry if you arn't getting good spring rain.

Sap sucking insects can also be a problem in old sod.

Like Woody says, it can be disappointing.

[tweaker101]

Try get it sprayed out in summer or fall yr before seeding.
If you wait till spring you have to wait for at least 3 leaves before spraying or you can't get those old deep roots. By that time you seedbed is powder dry if you arn't getting good spring rain.

Sap sucking insects can also be a problem in old sod.

Like Woody says, it can be disappointing.

Considering we never sprayed last fall I wonder how spraying off this springs growth... when ever that happens and drilling in a annual crop and then doing the text book approach and spray off in the fall and seed in the spring. Does anyone have much experience with the annual crops with multiple varieties of seed vs mono crop varieties?.

[WiltonRanch]

Considering we never sprayed last fall I wonder how spraying off this springs growth... when ever that happens and drilling in a annual crop and then doing the text book approach and spray off in the fall and seed in the spring. Does anyone have much experience with the annual crops with multiple varieties of seed vs mono crop varieties?.

Spraying out in spring is problematic. Doesn’t matter what annual you seed you gotta get the previous stand dead or it’ll come back and choke out whatever you seed. Not to mention it’ll be dry. Besides spraying now then in the fall won’t do a good job cleaning up the old stand. Better to wait till fall and actually kill it.

[woodland]

What about spraying it out in July or August and no tilling some fall rye in after? Then graze a bit in the fall or save it for early grazing before the grass is ready next spring. We’ve done that and are putting in a couple fields of it this fall again. Hard to find seed at times though.