Dealing With Pasture Mud
By: David Jessee, Agronomist for Southern States
The past winter has left a muddy footprint across much of our territory, and as grass greens up we have an opportunity to use the natural “tillage” of hoof prints to help establish new seedings in the voids where established grasses may have failed. Heavy traffic may also have left holes, ruts, erosion gullies and compacted areas that aren't conducive to the existing grass or new seedlings. They are also unsafe, invite weed competition, and just look bad. A heavy drag, disc or harrow can produce a nice seedbed and break up compacted and unlevel areas to allow water infiltration and to cycle pathogens and nutrients for plant growth.
If seed is merely broadcast on undisturbed, packed ground, the chance of establishment is poor. Seeds need consistent moisture to imbibe water to a critical point, and without some seeding depth many aren’t likely to survive. Developing roots need some depth to anchor to the ground. If a drill isn’t available, the ground will need to be dragged or harrowed to create seed depth and a firm seed-to-soil contact. Following seeding, the horses will need to be removed until sufficient growth allows grazing. At that point the seedlings will be 4” to 6” and not easily pulled from the ground. If you don’t have a large area for horse’s exercise, you may seed and fence out one area for grass production and use the balance of the pasture for exercise.
What about the choice of forage species? Cool season grasses can be seeded right now. Horse Paddock Pasture Mixture provides more year-round grazing with both hot and cold season root growth and summer persistence; Pro Horse Pasture Mixture includes a higher percentage of low endophyte perennial ryegrass for establishment ease and quality. Both contain improved varieties of orchardgrass, timothy, perennial ryegrass and clover along with bluegrass. Benchmark Plus is priced very reasonably this spring at a seeding rate of one 25 lb bag per acre. Orchardgrass will require more rotational grazing than fescue for persistence, but it is more desirable for hay.
Another opportunity for strictly pastures is Laredo forage bermudagrass which is most adapted to continuous grazing in the summer months. Unlike the cool season grasses, you will need to wait for a soil temperature of 65 degrees at a 2” depth for germination. (To monitor a cooking thermometer works well.) In the late summer or fall, ryegrass can be overseeded into the Bermuda for fall and winter grazing.
Regardless of what seed you choose, as the weather warms up and the sun begins to shine, you may be pleasantly surprised at how much grass has still survived. However overseeding can fill in gaps and provide more grazing.