Question for grass , others

[Guest]

I suspect a lot of you know a lot about grasses and i was wondering if anyone knows if there are any varieties that are better than others for keeping topsoil in place ? I bought a quarter from an old fella when i was young and it is on a sidehill in light white clay land . He had a strip of some special kind of grass to stop the ditch from washing through the hill and it was really effective and didnt spread to the rest of the land . I dont think it was just quackgrass ? Anyways me being young and a lot smarter then him , i decided to farm through it , bad idea!
I have filled it in several times over the years and decided i am not going to win ,loll. With the sectional control and all the automatic equip on the sprayer it is easy to do now as well . The old fella is long gone as well so just wondering what anyones thoughts might be on varieties ?
Thanks

[Klause]

I suspect a lot of you know a lot about grasses and i was wondering if anyone knows if there are any varieties that are better than others for keeping topsoil in place ? I bought a quarter from an old fella when i was young and it is on a sidehill in light white clay land . He had a strip of some special kind of grass to stop the ditch from washing through the hill and it was really effective and didnt spread to the rest of the land . I dont think it was just quackgrass ? Anyways me being young and a lot smarter then him , i decided to farm through it , bad idea!
I have filled it in several times over the years and decided i am not going to win ,loll. With the sectional control and all the automatic equip on the sprayer it is easy to do now as well . The old fella is long gone as well so just wondering what anyones thoughts might be on varieties ?
Thanks

Probably crested wheatgrass.

Doesn't move much, and its used a lot for erosion control.

[farmaholic]

Only crested wheat I've seen growing was always in "clumps". Does that stuff ever become a solid mat?

Maybe depends how its been seeded?

Stream bank wheat grass?

Was it kind of fine or coarse?

[woodland]

Possibly reed canary grass. If it has really coarse stems and wide leaves and did good in damp areas that’s usually what it is out here. I like it for low ground and will six foot tall if the heat and water are right. Great root system for erosion control too.

[farmaholic]

Reed canary is like a ****en weed! Carry the seed from hay slough to hay slough with the equipment.

In my opinion, if you don't get it before stem elongation because it's too wet to get at....all you get is a bunch of long hard stemmy forage when the land is dry enough to support equipment. Damn shit can be as high as tractor tires. I think it's actually shitty feed.

[seldomseen]

I had a nicely grassed water run for years and always warned the custom spray guy to do his best to miss it. Five or six years of mentioning it to him, he would leave it. Then one summer it was sprayed out and then never ending wet years with water running it is all washed out. Right after seeding is done I have to get this one fixed up and seeded.

A few other runs I have put fescue just like lawn grass and it works good. Grows short and thick and really holds the dirt in place. I just don't remember what kind of fescue.

[woodland]

Reed canary is like a ****en weed! Carry the seed from hay slough to hay slough with the equipment.

In my opinion, if you don't get it before stem elongation because it's too wet to get at....all you get is a bunch of long hard stemmy forage when the land is dry enough to support equipment. Damn shit can be as high as tractor tires. I think it's actually shitty feed.

Cut or graze early If you leave it till September then it’s the consistency of cereal straw. We graze 2-400 acres of slough grass depending if it’s dry enough for the cows to get out there and nail it hard in early June and then again in the fall and it’s great.

[Braveheart]

Other than quack, which you don't want in your field, my choice would be smooth brome grass. It has rhizomes that will form sod better than most for holding soil in place.

[parsley]

Sainfoin. It will establish on those barren, or won out or alkalai hills. Livestock love it. Unlike alfalfa, non-bloat. Richer milk.

Sainfoin will not tolerate wet feet, though.

[grassfarmer]

Don't think you'd beat quack grass for that job - if your sprayer technology allows you to contain it there I see no reason not to use it.
You guys are tough on Reed Canary, it's an awesome species if managed properly. As woodland said graze it early and immature, we usually go a couple passes over it in early summer then let it mature and come back onto it after a killing frost and the cows will eat the whole plant no matter how mature it is. In terms of yield it's like a free perennial version of corn.

[shtferbrains]

I think the Creeping Red Fescue suggestion is the way I would go.

Use some Annual Rye grass to cover ground in first year.

Might be worth watering

[Blaithin]

https://www.brettyoung.ca/professional-turf-and-reclamation/seed/native-grasses

Mountain Brome and Green Needlegrass are probably the two better suggestions based on that list. Gives you some other ideas though, and what kind of soil and moisture they prefer.

[blackjack]

Any of those rhizome type grasses Braveheart recommended.On side hill Kentucky blue,creeping red fescue,rhizome type brome would all do the trick.Besides that natural quack grass lol.