seeding in spring for annual pasture

[ProFarmer]

Considering seeding fall rye or winter wheat in the spring for 2006 pasture,maybe should try itailian rye grass?

[countryguy]

You may want to look into the new perennial rye.One planting lasts 3-5 years.

[WildTomato]

If your area is more prone to moisture, then italian ryegrass may be a good fit. It does especially well under irrigation. The regrowth potential is excellent provided the moisture is there. I've seen Italian ryegrass used successfully under irrigation with rotational grazing. If it is a drier area then fall rye may be a better fit. You can improve spring seeded fall rye forage yield and graze about 7 to 10 days earlier if you add about 25 lbs/ac of oats or barley.

I haven't heard any positive results from perrenial rye. But, I have only talked to one producer around the Lethbridge area. I'm sure it has had some success as well.

[poorboy]

We did some trials in the 1980's with different seeding mixs and pasture for our cows. I farm in the dark brown soil zone and moisture is the limiting factor. We tried oats,barley, rye, winter wheat, and italian ryegrass. In a moisture limiting area like mine, the mixtures of barley and either rye or winter wheat did the best for the least cost. The barley carried the cattle for most of the summer until about mid august and then the winter wheat or rye provided most of the grazing.
Some of the things that I learned were:
Don't graze the first time until the barley has tillered. It regrows much faster.
Stagger your seeding dates slightly. Once barley takes off it will overrun the cattle in late june for a period of time.
Fertilize heavily, it takes at least as much fertilizer or more than a grain crop will.
Desicate or plow under the crop as soon as you are done with it. If left growing until freeze up you will have no crop the following year in a moisture limiting area.
Footrot can be a problem in heavy soils. You need some regular grass pasture in heavy land to put the cattle on when you get lots of rain.

Overall, for us it offered more grazing than grass pasture, because it started growth in may and ended in september, where grass took moisture from a longer season.

[cowman]

My old man used to grow some fall rye. Usually on land that needed the extra cultivation due to weeds. Planted in mid June. By late August he flogged the cows in there before it was headed. You could literally see those calves pack on the pounds...although they were so loose they had dirty butts forever!
Now in those days no body screwed around with electric fences and they made a real mess of the whole thing!
The next year he cut it for hay about the first of July and it yielded real well. Grazed it down hard near the end of Aug. and worked it up in the fall...next year barley. By the way it was terrible stuff to work up...a very good root system! Also the moles didn't seem to like it and left the country!