interseeding ideas

[gwithrow]

I need ideas for interseeding or overseeding seasonal seed into existing pastures...like pearl millet, crab grass....or even rye in the fall...

I have a tractor....not much equipment....do not have a no till drill... and I usually frost seed clover ....but I would like to add grazing days to our pastures by getting pearl millet out there for summer grazing as well as other grains....

we have at most 18 - 20 animals, beef cow/calf......and about 35 acres that we are working with so it is hard to justify expensive equipment...most of what we have done in the past is broadcasting seed...which works if conditions and ground is perfect....I would like to step this up this year, so any suggestions would be welcome....for example would seeding millet ahead of the cows be effective?.....

[myheaven]

We often borrow or rent equipment that we only need once or twice.

[gwithrow]

the county has a no till drill they will rent out, my tractor though, does not have hydraulics on the back.....

[myheaven]

Rent a farmer and his tractor. That's what I did one year for my corn. It's termed custom planting.

[agmantoo]

Originally Posted by gwithrow

the county has a no till drill they will rent out, my tractor though, does not have hydraulics on the back.....

By the statement "does not have hydraulics on the back" reference to the hydraulics to operate implements hydraulics or that you do not have a 3 point hitch?

[gwithrow]

oh for sure it has a 3 pt hitch....I use a bush hog often....and a rear hay spear....

[agmantoo]

I wanted to show you a pic of a golf course implement (Mott brand) that I have but I was unable to find a picture. The device is a 3 point tool that is a plugger that extracts a cigar shaped plug leaving a dimple. I have used this implement and a seed broadcaster to reestablish paddocks prior to my getting a notill drill. The seed when broadcast will have a good percentage to fall in the dimple and when it rains some dirt will wash into the dimple and create a good seedbed resulting in germination. It takes around a 35 HP tractor to handle the implement. A spiked aerator of adequate size could accomplish a similar task IMO. An old Tye Pasture Pleaser 3 PT NoTill would also work for you but they are pricey should you find one.

PS.....I remember where there is small drill that is 3 point hitch but it will need a tractor that can lift maybe 2000 lbs. It looks like this
http://s72.photobucket.com/user/wcla...ml?sort=4&o=14

[gwithrow]

according to the tractor specs it can lift almost 4000 lbs....its a 45 hp tractor...where is this little drill?...and how much?....will it work adequately on not all flat pastures...

[agmantoo]

The drill is not far from my place which you have visited.

[stockdogcompany]

Agman,

A variation of one of these tools I'm sure. A sod aerator or spoon aerifier. Always looks like a big flock of geese has just left the scene after they run one of these across a field.

http://www.turf.msu.edu/cultivation-of-lawns

[Allen W]

I found these small drills searching for something else. http://www.beavervalleysupply.com/se.../kascoseed.htm When I clicked on the manufactors link http://kascomfg.com/index.html I ended up at the home of the Herd Seeder, much recomended by agmantoo.

[Allen W]

Another small no till capable drill option if some one is looking. http://www.haybuster.com/hb/SD77C.html I like the looks of this drill, with a dolly wheel under the front it wouldn't put a load on the tractor hitch.

[agmantoo]

Originally Posted by Allen W

Another small no till capable drill option if some one is looking. http://www.haybuster.com/hb/SD77C.html I like the looks of this drill, with a dolly wheel under the front it wouldn't put a load on the tractor hitch.

I purchased the larger version (107 C) of this drill last Fall. I inter-seeded Marshall rye grass into my established Fescue and I am very pleased with the uniformity of the emerged stand of ryegrass. You are correct that the dolly wheel is a nice feature. The dolly wheel and tongue design makes for a fast and lightweight tractor connection as well as tight turns at the ends of the paddocks. The "floating" on the 3 wheel support cart lets the drill follow the contours of the field and allows for superb depth control. This is the second No-Till drill of this size that I have owned and I am much happier with this one. The previous drill was an end wheel drill and unless the field was near absolutely flat depth control was an issue. I also like the 3 individual seed boxes that enables planting 3 types of seed, all at different rates if required, with one pass.

[Allen W]

agmantoo

I bought a Sunflower notill drill last fall, 15' three point drill on a carrier hitch, not small tractor friendly and I can see some similarities in the opener set up between the two drills. I drilled wheat into some bermuda and love grass, a couple of acres, to see what it would do. Looks good in the bermuda and came up between the love grass bunches. Planted wheat into crabgrass stubble and standing dead crabgrass the only thing that the drill didn't cut through was a few mature tumble weeds.

The three drill boxes on the haybuster drill sounds like a winner to me, I would like to add a small seed box to mine.

[aoconnor1]

Originally Posted by gwithrow

I need ideas for interseeding or overseeding seasonal seed into existing pastures...like pearl millet, crab grass....or even rye in the fall...

I have a tractor....not much equipment....do not have a no till drill... and I usually frost seed clover ....but I would like to add grazing days to our pastures by getting pearl millet out there for summer grazing as well as other grains....

we have at most 18 - 20 animals, beef cow/calf......and about 35 acres that we are working with so it is hard to justify expensive equipment...most of what we have done in the past is broadcasting seed...which works if conditions and ground is perfect....I would like to step this up this year, so any suggestions would be welcome....for example would seeding millet ahead of the cows be effective?.....

Back to the OP's question. I don't know what to overseed with, but I am watching this thread for an answer as I have a lot of ground I want to cover for more grazing for horses into the winter months. I have approximately 100 Creas to overseed, currently I have weeds and some old standing Bermuda grass mixed in. I would like to strengthen the Bermuda, plus cover with something to bring up late fall grasses. Any ideas are appreciated.

[ramiller5675]

The Noble Foundation has some basic info about Low-Input Overseeding at: http://www.noble.org/global/ag/pastu...f-fo-99-17.pdf

In the past, I've used a conventional drill with double-disc openers (IH 5100 drill) to drill winter wheat into a bermuda grass pasture and ended up with a decent stand. If you wanted to overseed your pasture with something like ryegrass or clover that needed to be planted pretty shallow, a conventional drill would easily be able to get deep enough under almost any soil conditions.

As a bonus, you should be able to buy an older conventional drill for a fraction of the cost of a newer no-till drill.

[agmantoo]

ramiller5675

The link above to the Noble Foundation information above was very informative. Thanks!

[Ironbutt]

Here in the eastern part of NC this works pretty good in our sandy land. I normally broadcast the seed after a rain then pull this over the seeded area's. Its a spiked rolling cultipacker . You can find them easy on e-bay. Does a pretty good job over seeding rye into bermuda and fescue.

[gwithrow]

I like the cultipacker...do you pull it with a tractor?....or something lighter?...I try to keep the tractor off the ground after a rain....but I think the broadcasting and then the spiked cultipacker would work pretty well....thanks....

[Ironbutt]

I use a john deere gator to pull the it when the ground is soft. I use the tractor when I pull the drop spreader & it in combination.
I wanted a slit seeder but that cost about $3000.00 for a used one to $6000.00 for a new model.