Meadow Brome? Need some answers!

[ivbinconned]

I am dissapointed with the Meadow Brome that I seeded a few years ago. I have a controlled grazing system and have seeded it on about 90 acres.

This year and last year this grass has in 3 weeks grown 3 to 4 feet high, gone to seed, produced nil for leaf. Leaving it producing only the seed and straw which the cattle don't seem to want to graze.
From my observation so far I would never recommend it...or am I doing something wrong in trying to graze it.

[cswilson]

Thats not meadow brome you have growing there-doesn't look or sound like any that we have here-its awesome in a pasture but doesn't grow 3 feet in a month.

[smcgrath76]

Most varieties of meadow brome are not very drought tolerant, although they can produce good leaf area and relatively high quality forage. The new hybrid (smooth x meadow) AC Knowles looks quite promising for drought resistance and production.
We have not put any of this in ($ mostly) but do graze some meadow brome in our rotation. It does nothing when it's dry, but seems to recover fairly well when moisture conditions are moderate.

[ivbinconned]

Could it be that because we had very dry cool conditions until may 30th followed by 6 inches of rain the first 3 weeks of June that that has caused it shoot up with straw and go to seed so fast??

[poorboy]

My meadow brome is doing the same thing. It will come back into leaf if it gets clipped. You must have enough cows in a pasture or use electric fence to make pastures small enough so cows must eat stemmy plants. Otherwise the cows will keep going back and regrazing the stuff they ate a couple of days ago and the stemmy stuff keeps getting coarser.

Going in and cutting the pasture down will also work.

If fertilizing meadow brome pastures it is important to not fertilize all at the same time or all grass production is early in the season and too coarse for mid July grazing. Fertilizing some in spring and some towards the end of June has been a very effective strategy for me.

[ivbinconned]

Poorboy, what part of the world do you live in. Were your conditions like mine? Cool and dry till the end of May, then lots of rain.