Switchgrass

[Outdoor Family]

CIR Planting Option....

I’m thinking of planting a 10ish acre hill in CIR for cover and need some clarification. I picked up some seed from Osenbaugh earlier this year and had a discussion about ways of planting CIR. The plan was to cut in late summer and spray roundup in early fall. That plan changed when driving the field on the quad making sure I didn’t fall into a hole (field is high in weeds with some MFR sprinkled in) with the tractor. Numerous deer including a nice buck exited the field and the decision to mow before hunting season stopped. Well back to the conversation at Osenbaughs. I believe I remember another option. That is to mow late winter or early spring when it’s not to muddy and broadcast CIR seed. Next when the cut field starts to turn green, spray with 2 quarts of roundup and ams per acre. This spraying needs to happen when things go green and before CIR germination, a narrow window. After that a cutting in July at about 12 inches high. Is this possible as I might not be remembering correctly????

 

[Scott]

Numerous deer including a nice buck exited the field and the decision to mow before hunting season stopped.

I had the same conflict but think in the long run it is worth biting the bullet and getting it killed off when its warm, plus you can use the chemicals with a residual which nuke off everything. I am actually surprised how much the deer and turkeys still hang out in my desert of dead grass right now. I am definitely glad I did it the way dbltree recommended, it should make it easier to plant this winter.

 

[dbltree]

I remember another option. That is to mow late winter or early spring when it’s not to muddy and broadcast CIR seed. Next when the cut field starts to turn green, spray with 2 quarts of roundup and ams per acre. This spraying needs to happen when things go green and before CIR germination, a narrow window

You can do this but...spring spraying is not nearly as effective and is a recipe for disaster sometimes. Brome and fescue does not all come to life at the same time in the spring, it stays partially dormant. So it greens up, we spray it and it appears dead until 2-3 weeks late it springs back to life from dormant roots that did not absorb the glyphosate.

That means you have to spray again and again...and then it gets into May and you run the risk of killing germinating CIR.

I have done this, more then once for other people who got cost share in mid winter...I frost seeded the CIR, sprayed 2-3 times in the spring...still had a mess and had to spray Oust and Gly the following late fall or early spring to finally get the "mess" cleaned up.

Spring spraying is an option and you can make it work but it is a poor choice compared to fall spraying.

In your case if you choose to give it a go...frost seed in late January or early February, spray gly in mid April and again before May 10th (or a single spraying around May 1st)

If you don't use atrazine to control weeds, plan on clipping weeds as needed anywhere from 3-6 times the first summer. If perennial grasses return, spray 1 quart of glyphosate and 1 1/2 ounces of Oust XP in early April the following spring to clean up the grasses.

Keep us posted and let us know how your new CIR seeding turns out...

 

[Outdoor Family]

The Field.....

Thanks for the insight. I’ll probably talk to Osenbaugh again this winter and make a decision, but a couple of things have entered my thoughts. First, the field really doesn’t have that good of cover right now; with everything pretty much on the ground. Guess I should have continued on and cut and sprayed. Second, I have a couple new projects in the works for spring, with addition of 7ish acres of corn and a new clover plot, beside the current plots. Think that I’ll work on those and do the cutting and spraying throughout next year. This way I think I give the field the best chance of success, despite my best efforts…:grin:

 

[dbltree]

A friend of mine had someone plant a strip of switchgrass around the outside perimeter of his fields but strips are hard to maintain sometimes (difficult to burn) and switch isn't really that effective at screening when planted in a narrow strip. He later decided to convert the strips to Dwarf Chinkapin and Bur X Gambel oaks on one side and red cedars in the fence row to provide screening. Until the trees get tall enough we are using Egyptian Wheat to screen the plots and I snapped a picture of it the other day only to notice later how the Oust had released the switchgrass where we sprayed it on the oak trees.

You can clearly see the far left is nothing but goldenrod and almost anything but switchgrass but the Oust XP knocked that stuff out without even fazing the switchgrass.

Don't use Oust in the spring on new seedings (use it in the fall only ) but on established switchgrass that needs to be released it works great! Seedings where a spring grass kill is attempted with mediocre results are a great place to use Oust the following spring before the switch greens up.... :way:

 

[dbltree]

Dbltree,

Had a meeting with my districts NRCS rep. I have a couple different options on seeding my 18 acres of Illinois Safe CRP. I can use the NRCS bulk mix as described in my other post and add the extra switch to his mix when they come out to plant it. ( They do not rent-out drill anymore, they have one drill and it plants their NWSG mix so they dont have to calibrate for everybody's diff. mix. If i go with this option, would i be better off frost seeding my CIR in designated areas later this winter ( Corn stubble that has been shredded) and just let them drill their mix overtop. Or go buy my own mix and frost seed everything? My main objective with my CRP is to create security cover which is sorely lacking my area.

Thanks

The switchgrass seed is easy to seed by itself so I would frost seed that anytime this winter and let them sow the rest. The other seeds are fluffy and difficult to sow without special equipment so not easy for you to sow yourself...

 

[PYBucks]

From my limited experience (one planting) I think guys planting switch worry too much about when they should plant. When they should be spending more time doing field prep and weed control.
This happened to me. I planted 70 acres of switch 3 years ago. All my fields were brome and sprayed with round-up in the previous fall. Then I burned them with fire and sprayed with round-up in early spring. I hired a person to plant the switch with a drill in late April. The guy calls me in late June and tells me he just realized he forgot to plant 1 of my 4 fields. I couldn’t believe it and if I could have reached through the phone I would have strangled him. He tells me he will plant the missed field the first week of July. I said ok, go for it since I didn’t want to wait another year. Since some weeds had come up he sprayed the field again with round-up on July 1st. I checked the field on July 5<SUP>th</SUP> and it was really nuked, everything was dead, must have been in the 90’s and no wind when he sprayed. Every year this has been the thickest and best stand of switch. It’s not even close, it’s by far the best field and I wish I had planted the other 3 fields at the same time. The extra spraying of round up made a huge difference.
I’m not suggesting you plant in July but take care of the weeds and it won’t matter if you plant in February, April or May.
Tim

 

[dbltree]

Killing the brome (any sod grass) first, is the most critical step in establishing any NWSG's....that is for certain! :way:

 

[One Big Buck]

Question on establishing switchgrass. I've got a crop field (currently corn stubble) that is surronded by timber. I'd like to establish an edge around the field, currently the edge is approximately 20 feet wide and just weeds. If I were to mow down the existing weeds, could I then frost seed in switchgrass and have success? I'm guessing the answer is no and I would also need to burn after mowing. What would be my other options?

If I do need to burn, any tips on controlling a burn? I've never done this, so I don't want to burn down the whole county! Do I need to contact anyone to inform them I will be burning?

 

[dbltree]

Question on establishing switchgrass. I've got a crop field (currently corn stubble) that is surrounded by timber. I'd like to establish an edge around the field, currently the edge is approximately 20 feet wide and just weeds. If I were to mow down the existing weeds, could I then frost seed in switchgrass and have success? I'm guessing the answer is no and I would also need to burn after mowing. What would be my other options?

If I do need to burn, any tips on controlling a burn? I've never done this, so I don't want to burn down the whole county! Do I need to contact anyone to inform them I will be burning?

You could frost seed this winter and then spray roundup in early April as weeds start to green up. Mowing is fine and no burning yet needed to prepare. If possible have atrazine sprayed on the frost seeding in April as well, probably can have them do it when they spray the corn fields on your farm.

You may need to clip any weeds this summer at 8-12" high the first year and then you should be good to go. At 3-5 years you will need to burn or mow in late summer to break up the straw/thatch from the switchgrass and you can talk to NRCS about a burn plan at that time...

 

[One Big Buck]

That's even easier yet, thank you! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you sharing your knowledge on here as well as QDMA. I have no farming experience and would be lost without your generous contributions.

Thanks to what I've read on here I know that I would spray gly in early April to knock back the annual weeds but before the switchgrass emerges, then mow the rest of the weeds at 8-12" until the switch catches up and can crowd out the rest of the undeseriales.

 

[dbltree]

That's even easier yet, thank you! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you sharing your knowledge on here as well as QDMA. I have no farming experience and would be lost without your generous contributions.

Thanks to what I've read on here I know that I would spray gly in early April to knock back the annual weeds but before the switchgrass emerges, then mow the rest of the weeds at 8-12" until the switch catches up and can crowd out the rest of the undesirables.

Good luck and holler back if you have more questions :way:

 

[chronic]

I just put my order in for 50 lbs of blackwell switchgrass. It will be here in a few days. I will be broadcasting on 8 or 9 acres. It is on the southeast corner of 160 acres. The 152 acres more or less is NWSG. This is sandhill country. I went out today and looked it over. I had it sprayed late summer with 24d and banvil. The only thing growing is some very short cheat grass. Sorry I don't know the proper name for it. Used to call it wild oats when I was a kid. My plan is to broadcast the switch using my bumperbuddy and my 4wheeler no later than the end of January. From what I think I read here, I could spray atrazine and roundup before the switch germinates and the atrazine would suppress the weeds and cool season grass as the switch grows? There is a lot of bare ground for the switchgrass to fall on. I think this will work out I am just unsure about the atrazine mainly. Thanks for any guidance

 

[Sligh1]

Yep- you are right on, want to time that round-up and atrazine right before your switchgrass germinates- I think I do it around early to mid april (I always forget the timing) BUT lately it seems the switch has been coming up before the end of april. I'd do a quart of round-up and if it's legal- 4 quarts to acre of Atrazine. Dbltree will give you more thoughts BUT your plan sounds good to me!

 

[dbltree]

Just remember atrazine is a federally restricted pesticide so you either have to have someone purchase it for you (who is licensed) or have a local ag co-op spray it on for you. Otherwise it sounds like your on the right track.

 

[chronic]

I got the switchgrass broadcast about two weeks ago. We had one little skiff of snow about a week later and now it looks to be about a six inch snow on it. Time is flying by and I've got spring fever already. Thanks for all the good info on this site, it is a blessing.

 

[dbltree]

I got the switchgrass broadcast about two weeks ago. We had one little skiff of snow about a week later and now it looks to be about a six inch snow on it. Time is flying by and I've got spring fever already. Thanks for all the good info on this site, it is a blessing.

My best seeding came after getting dumped on with snow! Yours should do well!:way:

 

[DE2IA]

I have two smaller clover fields that I am considering planting into switch after reading this thread. One is 1.3 acres and the other is .5 acres and they are separated by a small ravine. The area around it has recently been thickened up with hing cutting and cedar plantings. My question is this.....is this area too small of an area for bucks to start using the switch for bedding? If so, I can leave it as food plots but I would like to establish some extra cover as I have several other fields that I use as my main food plots. Thanks.

 

[dbltree]

I have two smaller clover fields that I am considering planting into switch after reading this thread. One is 1.3 acres and the other is .5 acres and they are separated by a small ravine. The area around it has recently been thickened up with hing cutting and cedar plantings. My question is this.....is this area too small of an area for bucks to start using the switch for bedding? If so, I can leave it as food plots but I would like to establish some extra cover as I have several other fields that I use as my main food plots. Thanks.

There is nothing wrong with establishing switchgrass in those small fields but mature bucks typically use larger fields of 10 or more acres. If the small fields are hidden and have a ridge where they can lay in the native grass and see approaching danger, they may very well use it.

Small ares are often better utilized if they are planted to shrubs and conifers to create brushy type cover so it depends on if you already have lot's of that type of cover or not?

Food plots are better off centrally located and as close together as possible within 80-120 acre units to adapt deer to traveling to one place.

All things to ponder before deciding to plant native grass in those fields...

 

[Qdmaer]

Planning on frostseeding my switch this weekend. Gonna spray simazine and gly at end of april, just curious how much simazine i should use and who else has results with simazine. If i recall last years switch frostseed emerged around the 2nd week of may. Thanks:drink2: