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Switchgrass

dbltree said:
Note sure but we get the idea :D Great habitat...thanks for sharing that switch is not just fro deer! :way:
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That is for sure, on the last bowhunt I saw 35-40 pheasants, 400-500 ducks and 3 deer, including a nice buck. I felt like I was in the Dakotas.

This farm was all tillable and pasture in 2002!
 
Hardwood11 said:
That is for sure, on the last bowhunt I saw 35-40 pheasants, 400-500 ducks and 3 deer, including a nice buck. I felt like I was in the Dakotas.

This farm was all tillable and pasture in 2002!
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I used to hunt a 40 acre switch grass field next to hedge rows with corn and beanfields. Jumped many pheasants out of that field, it was interesting to note that I never saw the quail out in the switch, they were always jumped on the edges of the hedge and pure switch.
 
I was just reading our local newspaper and thought I would pass it to you folks for the heck of it. For our county here in kansas we have gotten 6.5 inches of rain for 2011. Next lowest year is 12.2. 23 year average is 21 inches. I bet you guys can't imagine it.
 
I was taking a walk today checking out some first year switchgrass, when I came across this guy...
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I assume that he was shot on a neighboring property and bedded down on the edge of our first year switchgrass before dying. The good news is that the switchgrass looks good :)
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I agree, great 1st year stand and buck, although an unfortunate ending.

Did you use atrazine on your switch, or can you go through your processs of planting as that is a GREAT stand?

Thanks!!
 
We got it in late because our to do list was very long this spring... but we planted some time in May on a tilled surface that used to be reed canary grass. After planting, we waited a week and sprayed with Round up and Atrazine... Some RCG did come back in spots, but we will hit it again with RU and Atrazine this upcoming spring and that seems to work well, or at least it has in the past. :way: Herbicides make this stuff easy! Although having SOME forbs and weeds in your stands is a good thing, RCG is not a good thing because it is very invasive and holds very little benefit to wildlife. Most of the places that I have been trying to establish switch grass is in areas that used to be completely taken over by RCG. So I make sure that I am very diligent with my weed (RCG) control. :) A good sprayer is worth its weight in gold!
 
Thanks! Going to be planting 10 acres on my place this spring in fields with brome and fescue. It is almost flat as a pancake now, so looking to add extra cover :)
 
I have a 5 acre fescue field that I burned with roundup three years ago. I never got to plant it so it ended up being converted to weeds. I mowed and sprayed it again in October and came back again in November and mowed it down again. I don't feel like the spray took. There is some bare dirt but also some fescue still there. Can I still frost seed it in early February or do I need to wait another year so I have the opportunity to kill everything again next fall? Can I spray something in the early spring before the CIR germinates that will give it a better chance? I would really like to get this field started this year so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
 
If it were me... you say you have some bare dirt.... I think you'd be ok. I'd seed it down really thick. Like, PERSONALLY, I go a little over-board on smaller projects like that cause i might get a little crazy with seed and herbicide BUT it's only a smaller amount of acres and if you spend a little more, who cares, right?!?!

SO... If it were ME, i'd go like 10 lbs to the acre of Switchgrass and I'd seed that anytime, BEFORE mid-march. Ideally in February. Or I'd see if you could light it on fire at all (pry not but might be worth a try?) to burn anything off BUT not critical to success- try and burn and then seed if you thought about that. that would remove some trash on top. Whether you do that or not.... Early April I'd BLAST the stuff... I'd be hitting it with 2-3 quarts of Round-up and 4-ish quarts per acre of Atrazine (ok, if you live in Iowa or many other places, only 2.2 quarts of Atrazine since that's the law) and walk away. If you're somewhere that allows 4+ quarts to acre of atrazine, I think you'll be able to walk away (unless the trash on top was super bad). If you get foxtail- you can get some herbicides to kill foxtail in switchgrass and I'd watch foxtail growth VERY CAREFULLY and react very quickly if it does come in. Read earlier on foxtail herbicides. I think it's do-able. Sounds like you have some round-up kill and some bare soil so I think you can get it done. Just do it right and do it timely and don't cut corners. Good luck!
 
Four year old Cave in Rock switchgrass that was frost seeded in late winter on sod killed the fall before

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Always prepare for establishing switchgrass by mowing sod in early August, spraying with 2 quarts 41% glyphosate, 1 quart crop oil and 1-2 ounces of Oust XP (generic is Spyder) in early September. Re-spray in late October with 1 quart gly if any grasses survive

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Frost seed 5-8#'s of switchgrass seed in late January thru mid March on bare ground or no more then a few inches of snow. Note the runway going thru this 6' tall switchgrass

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Around May 1st spray again with 1 quart gly and 2-4 quarts atrazine or simazine (lower rates on sandy soils, higher on heavy soils. Atrazine is restricted use and requires a license but simazine doe not. Switchgrass grows in small clumps unless seeded extremely thick, perfect for wildlife large and small to move thru

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If you have problems with foxtail, spray with Paramount/Drive 75 (Quinclorac) post emergence and 2-4D can be applied to kill broadleaves but wait until the switchgrass has 3-4 leaves. Switchgrass is often put down by misinformed NRCS personnel but it is superior to most other natives at winter standability and with decades of real life observation I see wildlife from quail and pheasants to turkeys and deer readily using and in fact, living in....switchgrass.

NWSG is not magic nor a guarantee of huge whitetails being drawn to your farm like a a magnet but it is an extremely useful tool for open fields where tree plantings can not be done.... ;)

**** Note....see the beginning of this thread for details and sources for herbicides
 
New seeding - spray may 1st. But existing u'd spray early april right? Since much sprouts up in late April.
 
My friend Fred sent me a couple pics of his first year frost seeded switchgrass and the profound difference between the brome CRP and where he is converting it to CIR switchgrass.

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Fred is doing an outstanding job of establishing great whitetail habitat with centralized feeding areas with year around food sources, converting cool season sod in CRP fields to NWSG and doing TSI/hinging within his timber.

You can see a little foxtail in the switch but this coming year the Cave In Rock switchgrass will dominate!

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All of Fred's hard work has paid off with two mature bucks harvested this season and nearly 60 deer coming out to his feeding area recently. There is a recipe for success and Fred is utilizing all the ingredients required to have a top notch whitetail management program....year around cover and food = mature whitetails and tall, thick switchgrass is just one piece of the habitat pie....;)
 
so if I was planning on rotating soybeans to where the wintergreens are for next yr, then to switchgrass the following year, should I not broadcast rye and radishes into the soybeans?
 
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