I had lost this field to broomsedge. I mean completely. Cows would graze it a little in the spring, if you made it a rotation in summer, in 2 or 3 days, they'd tear a fence up to get out. Got soil samples on it, and they honestly weren't that bad.
What I did:
1. Unrolled hay here all winter, and fed ddg.
2. They tromped it up pretty good, but not as much as I was hoping for.
3. Sprayed it with a quart and half of glyphosate to the acre.
4. Ran a field cultivator over it from 2 directions. Wasn't doing much, so I stopped.
5. Hit with about a quart of 2 four d in mid May.
6. Put about 50 pounds to the acre of that slow release urea on it.
Results:
One of the purest stands of crabgrass I've ever seen. Made 9.5 4'x5' rolls to to the acre, in 2 cuttings. Rolls weighed 825 lbs on a average. It very well might make a 3rd cutting, but I'm more interested in grazing it at the moment.
I'm also going to broadcast some cover crop wheat on it in the fall. I'll do that the day before a rain. Should have good germination on the wheat. I normally have decent luck with it that way.
Threw very little money at the problem, and the problem has gone away. If it comes back, in the future I will repeat the process. I plan to do about 15 more acres this way this winter, and next spring. It has surpassed my sorghum Sudan in yield, but the sorghum Sudan, will definitely be cut again, and will pass the crabgrass.
I've gotten over a hundred rolls of hay, off of what was a total waste of land. I should get some grazing days off of it as well, plus what ever grazing the wheat will provide in the spring.
Would give anything if I had a before picture. It was a hot mess.
Your mileage may vary if you do the same thing.
What I did:
1. Unrolled hay here all winter, and fed ddg.
2. They tromped it up pretty good, but not as much as I was hoping for.
3. Sprayed it with a quart and half of glyphosate to the acre.
4. Ran a field cultivator over it from 2 directions. Wasn't doing much, so I stopped.
5. Hit with about a quart of 2 four d in mid May.
6. Put about 50 pounds to the acre of that slow release urea on it.
Results:
One of the purest stands of crabgrass I've ever seen. Made 9.5 4'x5' rolls to to the acre, in 2 cuttings. Rolls weighed 825 lbs on a average. It very well might make a 3rd cutting, but I'm more interested in grazing it at the moment.
I'm also going to broadcast some cover crop wheat on it in the fall. I'll do that the day before a rain. Should have good germination on the wheat. I normally have decent luck with it that way.
Threw very little money at the problem, and the problem has gone away. If it comes back, in the future I will repeat the process. I plan to do about 15 more acres this way this winter, and next spring. It has surpassed my sorghum Sudan in yield, but the sorghum Sudan, will definitely be cut again, and will pass the crabgrass.
I've gotten over a hundred rolls of hay, off of what was a total waste of land. I should get some grazing days off of it as well, plus what ever grazing the wheat will provide in the spring.
Would give anything if I had a before picture. It was a hot mess.
Your mileage may vary if you do the same thing.
