We are in the final stages of entering into 10 and 15 year Conservation Reserve Program contracts here in September 2010 with all of us receiving acceptance letters on September 18th or later. Nearly all of us will have received that approval by agreeing to a CP-25 "Rare and Declining Habitat Restoration" seeding.
That seeding will vary somewhat by area and will usually require meeting with an NRCS technician and deciding on a Native Warm Season Grass and Wildflower mix.
That mix is most likely to be comprised of a mix something like this mix from
Osenbaugh’s Prairie Seed Farms
1 Sand dropseed 0.05
2 Rough dropseed 0.10
3 Sideoats grama 0.90
4 Big bluestem 1.50
5 Indiangrass 1.00
6 Canada wild rye 0.25
7 Little bluestem 0.70
8 Virginia wild rye 0.35
9 Switchgrass 0.40
Subtotal Grasses (PLS Lbs)
5.25 PLS Lbs
Forbs Common Name Ozs/Acre
1 Black-eyed Susan 0.50
2 Seedbox 0.10
3 Evening primrose 0.40
4 Rigid / Stiff goldenrod 0.50
5 Culver's root 0.10
6 Grayheaded coneflower 1.00
7 Sky blue aster 0.10
8 Sneezeweed 0.05
9 Wild bergamont 0.10
10 Partridge pea 1.50
11Tall bellflower 0.03
12 New England aster 0.06
13 Smooth blue aster 0.10
14 Purple prairie clover 0.30
15 IL bundle flower 1.50
Subtotal Forbes (PLS Ozs)
6.34 PLS Ozs
Iowa CRP Mix - PSF #CP25-02-IA
9 Grasses / 15 Wildflowers
Total CRP Mix (PLS Lbs p/Acre)
5.65 PLS Lbs
Each landowners mix may vary and you will have some leeway to work on an acceptable mix with your NRCS tech and if you purchase from a source like John Osenbaugh he can custom mix almost anything you desire. He can also keep seeds separate which can also be advantageous for reasons I'll discuss later in this post.
Right now, even though it is getting later in the fall we still need to consider the single most important aspect of establishing NWSG plantings...preparation! It is imperative that we do all we can to kill and perennial sod forming grasses such as fescue and brome grass and there is no time like the present!
If the fields have been in crops then half the battle is already won but we'll get to that in a moment...
Killing perennial sod grass
At this point it may be too late to mow and allow for regrowth depending on where you live but in a perfect world we would prefer to mow, wait 2-3 weeks and spray the re-growth. As it is many of us will have little choice but to spray without mowing.
Spray using:
2 quarts of 41% glyphosate (Use AMS according to the label)
1-4 pints of 2-4D
Optional additions are:
1-2 ounces of Oust XP and one quart of crop oil
or 8-12 ounces of Plateau/Panoramic
If mowing was not possible before spraying, wait 2-3 weeks after spraying and mow the dead grasses to speed decomposition and make seeding easier.
Land currently in corn or soybeans
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In all but rare cases the work is already done but you do have the option of applying 8-12 ounces of Plateau/Panoramic in the fall.
Shred corn stalks to allow time for decomposition and also allow for ease of seeding later
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Land currently in alfalfa or clovers
Both alfalfa and clover are very difficult to kill using glyphosate alone and are both are also tolerant of post emergence applications of Plateau so it's important to kill them this fall. Both can suffocate a new NWSG seeding and make control nearly impossible with out also killing the native forbs in the planting.
Spray using:
2 quarts of 41% glyphosate (Use AMS according to the label)
2 quarts of 2-4D
Optional additions are:
1-2 ounces of Oust XP and one quart of crop oil
or 8-12 ounces of Plateau/Panoramic (for residual control into the following spring)
It is unlikely that killed legumes will need to be mowed before seeding
There may be of course other scenarios but these would be the most commonly found inland going into CRP.
NWSG's like Big and Little Bluestem, Indiangrass and Sideoats grama are fully type seeds that do not require stratification however the switchgrass and wildflower seeds in these mixes may exhibit a high degree of dormancy. So we have options...one for almost any situation and landowner.
Winter or dormant seeding is the least expensive, most efficient and practical method and can be done with a drill or via broadcasting seeds. If you have access to a tractor and can locate a drill equipped to plant fluffy seeds I would urge you to do so.
Drills are accurate and fast but be sure it is a drill equipped to handle fluffy seeds and the Truax rangeland drills are a good example:
Truax drill
Drills such as these have both fluffy seed boxes and small seed boxes for sowing small seeds such as switch and wildflower seeds and John Osenbaugh can keep the appropriate seeds separate to accommodate planting in a drill such as the Truax.
There is no need to till the soil and unless there is heavy trash a no-till drill is really not needed. All that is required when dormant seeding is to drop the seed on the soil so this allows us to seed without tilling and even seed on frozen soils. Winter seeding gives us the advantage of using equipment when no one else is and utilizing our free time that we often have little of in the spring.
Native grasses and native wildflowers are sown naturally in the wild this way being dropped in the fall, being moved against the soil by winter snow and rain as well as freezing and thawing action. The seeds then germinate in very late spring without ever having been "planted" and in fact the most common reason for a NWSG planting failure is planting seed to deep.
If you have an ATV you might also consider the Truax seed slinger or on small acreages a shoulder carried slinger:
I can tell you however that the shoulder slinger is heavy and cumbersome if planting a large area.
Truax Seed Slinger
We can dormant seed anytime from late November to late March as long as soils are either dry or frozen so that gives us plenty of time to get the seeding done as schedule permit. If you plan on using Plateau at rates above 4 ounces per acre you may wish to leave out any switchgrass seed and broadcast it into the stand the following winter because Plateau can cause serious injury to switch seedlings...yet another reason to ask your seed source to send it packaged separately.
You can plant a NWSG all the way into the first part of June but as mentioned some of you native wildflowers and switchgrass may not germinate until the following spring, Spring is also notorious for wet weather and cause for headaches getting stuck on wet areas, causing soil compaction or as has happened in Iowa the past few years...not getting it planted at all.
If you are new to NWSG it is imperative that you understand that these seeds are nothing like common crop seeds and do not get "planted" at all. If a drill is used or any tillage is done then great care should be taken to not plant these seeds over an 1/8" deep. Using a properly set rangeland drill or planting on frozen soils insures that planting too deep will not be a problem.
In early April spray 6-12 ounces of Plateau or Panoramic per acre...less if clean crop ground, more if it was sod containing fescue. On killed sod adding a quart of glyphosate may also be needed.
Plateau will keep you NWSG planting clean and negate the need for constant mowing all summer....this is some of mine from a past seeding where plateau was used on dormant seeded NWSG.
If Plateau is not used, expect to mow roughly 6 times the first summer, always just above the new seedlings and never mowing close to the ground!! Raise the mower up to just clip the tops off and allow sunlight in at 8-14" above the ground.
Unfortunately many of you will find that your NRCS tech's are totally inexperienced at planting NWSG, they only know what they have been told and have zero experience at actually planting and growing them. I can tell you from experience the best thing you can do is discuss only the actual seeding mix and when you can submit a bill for seed, herbicide, labor, fertilizer etc.
Do not tell them when or how you plan to plant, in fact don't tell them anything at all because in most cases you'll regret doing so. During the summer following planting they may stop by and make sure you did indeed actually plant your NWSG but beyond that don't make your business their business. They are all great, goodhearted people but the lions share of them simply have no working knowledge of this subject.
I'll be planting ground going into CRP with an approved CP-25 NWSG mix myself...so follow along and please share updates of your own plantings this coming year.... :way:
2-4D label Fall allied only
Plateau Herbicide Label Fall or spring applied
Oust XP Fall applied only
Escort XP Fall applied only.