notill fescue in tn

steven in Tn · Mar 9, 2014

i know spring is not the best time to do this, but i was not able to last fall.
i am needing to notill about 10 acres and was wondering when in tn. (k31)
grass has just started to green out in the last 2 weeks, but i know we are going to have more cold snaps.

old · Mar 9, 2014

Here in Missouri we call Fescue farmer bane since it is not a good grass for hay or cattle etc etc. Been fighting to get rid of it for decades and slowly getting it gone for better animal friendly hays like Timothy and clovers

Eric in KY · Mar 10, 2014

It takes about 21 days for germination. I'm in Ky and we usually no till early to mid April. You're prob at least 2 weeks ahead of us on weather. I'd prob do it anytime now when the ground is dry enough.

steven in Tn · Mar 10, 2014

how does Timothy hold up when grazing and heat?

old · Mar 10, 2014

Not sure how well with cattle but seems to do ok with horses. Here in Missouri if you have much of any fescue in your hay people hate the stuff. I use a pasture mix which has timothy orchard grass and a number of clovers and it seen to do well

Larry NEIL · Mar 10, 2014

Timothy is a slow grass to recover after cutting...at least here in north Illinois. Fantastic 1st cut yield though.
If you are looking to just graze it, I'd be looking for something that will give you better yields throughout the season.

steven in Tn · Mar 10, 2014

the only thing i know of around here is k31, orchard, and clover mix. the fescue just dont hold up very well.

Eric in KY · Mar 11, 2014

Generally speaking, fescue is very heat and drought tolerate compared to orchard grass. It's just not a good source of food when it gets real hot. Cattle slobber and don't really care for it. Excellent in the spring and fall for adding lbs. though. If you want, you can add timothy to whatever you plant but not as a main source. It disappears too easily. I would love to have orchard grass fields but it won't hold up under cattle and heat. You may want to look in to the warm grasses. Several guys around here are switching to them. I don't know anything about them. Most of our farm is planted in endophyte free fescue with orchard grass, red clover, white clover and alfalfa all blended in. We run a lot of cattle and have been very successful with the program for the last 20 years. When it gets real hot the cattle pick on the orchard and legumes instead of the fescue. My hay fields that don't get grazed are planted with alfalfa and orchard grass. Excellent hay source.

Eric in KY · Mar 11, 2014

If your fescue isn't holding up, you may have a ph problem. I would suggest before you plant anything to have a soil test. You may be way to low on your lime and fertilizers. We like our ph around 6.4 or better.

notill fescue in tn

steven in Tn

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