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Switchgrass

Hello Dbltree!

I would like to plant about 5 acres of switchgrass where I currently have well groomed lawn grass. What should be my timeline and steps to take to make sure the grass doesn't take over once planting? In your experience, is CIR suitable for Michigan climates?

From what I have read so far:

-Roundup lawn in the Fall and disk
-Broadcast CIR in February/March

Am I correct here? I'm new to deer management/farming so please excuse my ignorance.

Thanks!
 
Blizzard_T_Husky said:
In your experience, is CIR suitable for Michigan climates?

From what I have read so far:

-Roundup lawn in the Fall and disk
-Broadcast CIR in February/March
Click to expand...

Cave In Rock will do very well in MI, if the sod is killed in September, no disking would be necessary but if you do be sure to cultipack to firm the soil surface. Otherwise your plans are correct...good luck! :way:
 
I have my property in a WHIP contract, and on my seeding sheet it only list Blackwell as an approved switchgrass seed. How does Blackwell compare to Cave In Rock?

My opinion is that if im going through all the work only to plant an inferior grass then I might forego my cost share and just follow your instructions and plant Cave In Rock.
 
Don't know about Kansas and blackwell may work there very good. I started out with blackwell and it doesn't compare to cave in rock. Dies out quicker also.
 
Is it bad to mix different switchgrass seeds together? I have about 40 pounds of sunburst for next year, but I need more as I have a 10 acre field to plant. What happens if I do a 50/50 mix of CIR and Sunburst? Or is it best to keep is seperate and do 5 acres of 1 and 5 acres of the other? I live in southeast WI, so I assume CIR will be ok with our winters?
 
Hello,

I am thinking about experimenting with some switchgrass on my property this year and was wondering how exactly to go about it. I have read a lot from this thread and there is a ton of good information, but I just want to make sure I am understanding it correctly.

The area I plan to plant is a strip of weeds/cool season grasses that is between two ag fields. This strip is about 10-15 feet wide and about 150 yards long. If I want to get switchgrass started, what should my steps be? Keep in mind that I also do not have access to any equipment other then hand tools, although I may be able to get a bushhog from a neighbor.

From what I have read, this is what I was thinking I was going to do, and please correct me if I am wrong.

1. Sometime this month before the now flies, I will go out and weedeat any of the standing weeds/grasses that are in the patch and rake away any thatch left behind, making as much bare soil as I can.
2. Once late January/early February hits, I will head out with the hand spreader and frost seed some CIR switch.
3. In early to late May, I will go out with the backpack sprayer and spray the area with glyco to kill any weeds that may come up, before the switch germinates.
4. Later in the summer, if needed, I will spray again with Simizine to kill any surviving weeds but not harm the switch.

Would this be a good plan? Is there anything I should add to it? Please keep in mind also that I am a novice farmer. I just planted my first small food plot last year with some success and loved it and want to try something else this year.

Thanks in advance!
 
December frost seed??

The advice here is to frost seed mid winter, late January thru March, why not now before snow fall? I'm located north central MN where I may have significant snow on the ground during that time period and I'll be laid up or atleast moving slower with a new hip. So what is the disadvantage to a December frost seeding?

Dbltree you posted on 9/28 about an inaccessible area of locust you and your son cleared and planted a few years back. The pictures showed a nice switch stand among mixed pines and you mentioned the need to burn. I would expect that will be a challenging burn because of the pines??

I've got an area like that but I've been hesitant to plant switch because of the need to burn and the fear of burning down the pines.
 
Drop_Tine5214 said:
Hello,

I am thinking about experimenting with some switchgrass on my property this year and was wondering how exactly to go about it. I have read a lot from this thread and there is a ton of good information, but I just want to make sure I am understanding it correctly.

The area I plan to plant is a strip of weeds/cool season grasses that is between two ag fields. This strip is about 10-15 feet wide and about 150 yards long. If I want to get switchgrass started, what should my steps be? Keep in mind that I also do not have access to any equipment other then hand tools, although I may be able to get a bushhog from a neighbor.

From what I have read, this is what I was thinking I was going to do, and please correct me if I am wrong.

1. Sometime this month before the now flies, I will go out and weedeat any of the standing weeds/grasses that are in the patch and rake away any thatch left behind, making as much bare soil as I can.
2. Once late January/early February hits, I will head out with the hand spreader and frost seed some CIR switch.
3. In early to late May, I will go out with the backpack sprayer and spray the area with glyco to kill any weeds that may come up, before the switch germinates.
4. Later in the summer, if needed, I will spray again with Simizine to kill any surviving weeds but not harm the switch.

Would this be a good plan? Is there anything I should add to it? Please keep in mind also that I am a novice farmer. I just planted my first small food plot last year with some success and loved it and want to try something else this year.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I asked a similar question of dbltree last fall in dealing with cool season grasses. His response convinced me that I was better off waiting a year and getting a good kill on the cool season grasses through the summer. I'll be planting my CIR late this winter. Here was dbltree's response to my question:

I have done it many times and in the end was always successful but it's a longer process because you rarely kill all the brome in one shot in the spring. That means the natives struggle to compete and you will be re-spraying in 2013 again with gly and Oust.

Switch seed is tiny so you can sow it into standing sod grass and it will reach the dirt so that isn't a problem...the sod coming to life in the spring is however and you have limited time to get it killed. Much of it will be dormant and the gly will be ineffective so you have to spray twice before May 1st usually.

Doable but fraught with challenges:way:
Click to expand...

Good luck!
 
Well after a little digging I found out that CIR is approved for my area per NRCS so I can plant it, but we are still having some issues. The NRCS is making me plant a mix of 4 grasses that include Little Blue, Big Blue, Switch, and Indian grass.

Are there any chemicals I can use on all these grasses?

The Big Blue and Switch will make up 55% of the mix. The field is seven acres, would you split the planting and plant switch and big blue on half the acres and control with atrazine and then plant the other half in little blue and indian grass and control with plateau??
 
gatzow said:
Is it bad to mix different switchgrass seeds together? I have about 40 pounds of sunburst for next year, but I need more as I have a 10 acre field to plant. What happens if I do a 50/50 mix of CIR and Sunburst? Or is it best to keep is separate and do 5 acres of 1 and 5 acres of the other? I live in southeast WI, so I assume CIR will be ok with our winters?
Click to expand...

Mixing the varieties is fine and CIR does fine in your area.

Dbltree you posted on 9/28 about an inaccessible area of locust you and your son cleared and planted a few years back. The pictures showed a nice switch stand among mixed pines and you mentioned the need to burn. I would expect that will be a challenging burn because of the pines??

I've got an area like that but I've been hesitant to plant switch because of the need to burn and the fear of burning down the pines
Click to expand...

Those are cedars in my pics and they will likely get toasted when we burn which in that situation is fine. You can get away with mowing in some cases, just mow in mid May to break up straw and thatch...not as effective as burning but a good alternative.

1. Sometime this month before the now flies, I will go out and weedeat any of the standing weeds/grasses that are in the patch and rake away any thatch left behind, making as much bare soil as I can.
2. Once late January/early February hits, I will head out with the hand spreader and frost seed some CIR switch.
3. In early to late May, I will go out with the backpack sprayer and spray the area with glyco to kill any weeds that may come up, before the switch germinates.
4. Later in the summer, if needed, I will spray again with Simizine to kill any surviving weeds but not harm the switch.
Click to expand...

As Wayne mentioned, that may work but waiting and killing the area in early fall first is usually a far more productive method. Killing the cool season grasses first is the most important step and they are terribly hard to kill in early spring.

Simazine will not kill existing weeds but only keep some weeds from germinating
 
Do you have a good lead on a place to be able to purchase CIR seed for a reasonable price? "googling" is not working well for me on this.
 
gatzow said:
Do you have a good lead on a place to be able to purchase CIR seed for a reasonable price? "googling" is not working well for me on this.
Click to expand...

Look at the first page of this thread...lots of sources but John Osenbaugh is a great source (Prairie Seed Farms)...tell him Paul sent you his way...;)
 
All the seed I have purchased for John Osenbaugh has been top shelf as well as the time he takes to go over things with you is worth the price in its self. Lots of knowledge. You buy cheap seed you most likley going get cheap results. I wouldnt let price be a factor get good stuff. Youll be happy in the long run.
 
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I placed an order with John. Should be shipping tomorrow already, not that I need it for a couple of months. Thnks for the suggestion.
 
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Just finished drilling 3 acres of CIR in an area surrounding one of my foodplots. The majority of the area was sprayed to kill the brome earlier, but my concern is where poorer soils exists (alkaline and wet) and prairie cord grass dominates, and there is some reed canary as well. An ideas on how to keep on top of this so the Switchgrass can get a foothold?
 
Horncarver said:
Just finished drilling 3 acres of CIR in an area surrounding one of my foodplots. The majority of the area was sprayed to kill the brome earlier, but my concern is where poorer soils exists (alkaline and wet) and prairie cord grass dominates, and there is some reed canary as well. An ideas on how to keep on top of this so the Switchgrass can get a foothold?
Click to expand...

I have had success using 1 ounce of Oust XP in years following establishment. Spray with gly in spring just before switchgrass starts to emerge. Might also try Plateau again after one year minimum establishment.

Apply lime if necessary but may do ok on your soils.
 
I ordered my Switchgrass from Osenbaugh's Prairie Seed Farms on Saturday and the seed showed up this morning (Wednesday)!:way: Outstanding service and great advice over the phone.

I broadcast the seed just ahead of the 10" of snow forcasted for tonight on sod that was sprayed 4 times over the summer. John Osenbaugh suggested a blend of 80% CIR Switch and 20% Kanlow Switch at 10lbs per acre. I'm excited to see how it does next year, praying for some moisture next summer!

Here is part of the sprayed area in May after the first dose of Gly. I'll update next year!:way:

1040-may_3rd2012_2_407758.jpg
 
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