Cheatgrass, Bulbous Bluegrass, and Foxtail Barley Management Strategies in Tame Pastures Roger Hybner USDA-NRCS Bridger Plant Materials Center Bridger, MT
Bridger PMC – May 2011
Campbell County June 2011
The BEST weed control measures for a tame pasture occur BEFORE planting. • Crop rotations for 1-3 years prior. • Selection of a grass mix or grass/legume mix. • Establishing a firm, weedfree seedbed prior to planting. • Using a good drill to place the seed at a uniform depth for good seed-to-soil contact. • Calibrating the drill.
CROP ROTATIONS • Spring annuals (hay) • Cereal grains such as spring wheat, hay barley, spring triticale, oats. • Broadleaves such as peas, lentils, or peas/cereal grain mixes. • Warm season cereals such as hay millet, dryland corn and sudangrass.
Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum) - winter annual - shallow, fibrous root system - late fall/early spring growth habit
Cultural Practices • Wait for first flush of cheatgrass/other weeds in spring and then cultivate or spray w/ burn down herbicide. Plant crop. • Be aware of nitrate toxicity problems, esp. w/ oats. • Avoid winter wheat unless herbicide is used. •Caution: be aware of herbicide residual danger to future grass seedlings.
Never let downy brome go to seed and add more volume to the existing seedbank!
Perennial Legume Crops 1. 2. 3.
Alfalfa Sainfoin (need snow cover and non-saline soil) Birdsfoot trefoil
Can utilize many herbicides for grassy weed control. Caution/Planning must be used in the last year(s) of the rotation to avoid damaging effects on grass seed germination or seedling survivability.
EPTC – (preplant incorporated) Imazapic Sethoxydim Propyzamide Clethodim Terbacil Metribuzin Trifluralin Pronamide Hexazinone NO product recommendations are implied.
Weed Management Handbook for WY, MT and Utah
http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/extension_educational_program_areas/weed_manage ment_handbook_files/weed_management_handbook.pdf
Seed Selection • Use Certified seed that has been cleaned, tested and plant on a PLS basis. • KNOWN Quality
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Multiply the purity X the total germination & hard seed (.9992 X .90 = .89928)
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Alfalfa 5 lbs PLS/acre seeding rate
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5/.89928 = 5.56 bulk lbs actual planting rate
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Can ask for lab report to determine what other crop and what kind of weed seed are present in seed lot. Highly Recommended!
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Weed seed of .02% on label may seem low, BUT if it’s cheatgrass that means 1 lb of cheatgrass/50 lb bag = ~ 200,000 seeds!!!!
Calculating Pure Live Seed (PLS)
Russian wildrye (Psathyrostachys juncea)
Newly planted stand in the spring, picture taken later the same year in the fall.
Bozoisky-Select or Bozoisky II Russian wildrye •
Early spring growth habit
• Shallow, fibrous root system outcompetes weeds for water. • Excellent AI pasture. • Regrowth in the fall following precipitation. • Maintains protein levels through the fall and winter. • Will outcompete downy brome in 24 - 30” rows.
Bozoisky-Select wildrye on left – ‘Shoshone’ many-stemmed wildrye on the right 12” Row Spacing, Moccasin, MT 2011
Indian ricegrass on left – tall wheatgrass on the right
Crested wheatgrass Very early spring growth • Excellent early spring pasture • Not as competitive as Russian wildrye, but still good. • Bunchgrass • Siberian wheatgrass • Graze heavily to keep from growing a seedhead in early summer. •
western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) on the left and Siberian wheatgrass (Agropyron fragile) on the right.
Forage Kochia (Bassia prostrata) •Long-lived perennial, a green halfshrub well adapted to W. U.S.A. rangelands, including those high in salt and alkali. •Different from weedy annual kochia: a perennial, is non-invasive to native perennial plant communities, and does not cause nitrate or oxalate toxicity •Does not invade perennial plant communities, but can stabilize disturbed sites by competing against annual species. •Forage kochia out-competes many noxious annual weeds including cheatgrass and halogeton. Once it has replaced cheatgrass, perennial native species can re-establish. •Excellent winter forage. •Broadcast on top of snow for best establishment. •Fire resistant.
Foxtail barley
• An isolated biocontrol agent, or a biocontrol composition, comprising at least one Pseudomonas strain that exhibits weed suppressive activity. • The biocontrol agent may be used to suppress the growth green foxtail (Setaria viridis [L.] Beauv.), foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum), crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis), annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgalli), yellow foxtail (Setaria glauca), Italian rye grass (Lolium multiflorum), Goose grass (Eleusine indica), and wild oat (Avena fatua). • Furthermore, the biocontrol agent may be applied to soil before, during or after planting crops in the soil. • U.S. Patent given in 2005.
Foxtail barley plot in Alberta.
Candidate Forage Treatments • • • • • • • • •
“Saltmaster” forage mix Smooth bromegrass Alfalfa Nuttall’s salt-meadow grass Western wheatgrass Northern wheatgrass (a form of thickspike) Tall wheatgrass Green wheatgrass (6 & 12-Inch Rows) Slender/green wheatgrass (6-Inch Rows)
Special Thanks to Dr. Ken Wall and Dr. Harold Steppuhn, Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre Agriculture, Saskatoon, Sask., and Agri-Food Canada
Cool Season Grasses Russian wildrye • Bozoisky-Select or Bozoisky II
Tall wheatgrass on the right.
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Sp re do r
Biomass (g/m2)
Oyen - 2008
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GARRISON CREEPING FOXTAIL (Alopecurus arundinaceus) • In wet meadows, kill all existing vegetation and the next flush of unwanted weeds/grass w/ burndown herbicides (fallow). • Plant Garrison in late summer/early fall at ½” depth. • Band spraying (2nd photo) doesn’t work as well (94% to 47% establishment). • Utah ARS study
Intermediate or Pubescent wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium) • Rhizomatous • In wet meadows, kill all existing vegetation and next flush of weeds/unwanted grass w/ burndown herbicides (“fallow”). • Plant grasses at 10 lbs PLS/acre in late summer/early fall at ½” depth. •‘Rush’ intermediate wheatgrass is not recommended to be planted w/ alfalfa. • May also add slender wheatgrass as 10-15% of grass seed mix to aid in ground cover establishment year.
Bulbous bluegrass (Poa bulbosa)
Grass or Legume Mixes • Green wheatgrass/slender/alfalfa mix • 5 lbs green wheatgrass • 1-2 lb slender • 1-2 lb alfalfa* • Orchardgrass/ pubescent/slender/legume mix • 1 lb orchardgrass* • 1-2 lb slender wheatgrass • 4 lbs pubescent wheatgrass • 1-2 lb alfalfa* • Cooper Mix* • 1 lb orchardgrass* • 4 lbs meadow brome* • ¼ lb spreading alfalfa* • 13 lbs sainfoin* • 3 lbs birdsfoot trefoil
*Not recommended for saline soils
CALIBRATING A SEED DRILL FOR CONSERVATION PLANTINGS TN PLANT MATERIALS NO. 19 http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmctn7247.pdf
Method #1: Determine the seeds per foot of row. Method #2: Run the drill a given distance, weigh the seed dropped, then convert to pounds per acre. Method #3: Determine the drive wheel circumference, turn it a given number of times, weigh the seed dropped, then convert to pounds per acre. Method #4: Fill the drill with a weighed amount of seed, seed a measured area, reweigh what is left in the drill, then calculate the pounds per acre. Method #5: Calculate a rice hull to seed ratio, then set the drill for seeding barley. Method #6: Consult the seed chart on the inside of the drill cover (NOT recommended for conservation plantings).
Mark Majerus leading drill calibration exercise at NRCS employee training, BPMC.
FIRM Seedbed • A 200 lb man should not sink in more than ¼”. • Clod free • Provides for the best seed to soil contact possible.
SEED SOURCES •
Wyoming Crop Improvement Association mdmoore@uwyo.edu
307-754-9815
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Montana Seed Growers Association Rlarson@montana.edu
406-994-5121
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Utah Crop Improvement Association stanford.young@usu.edu
435-797-2082
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NDSU Foundation Seed Stocks dale.williams@ndsu.edu
701-231-8140
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http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmsbr9398.pdf
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ID Technical Note 33: Plant and Seed Vendors for Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Eastern Oregon, Utah, Eastern Washington and Wyoming.
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http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/ndpmcot7342.pdf Growers of Bismarck Plant Materials Center Grasses and Forbs
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION WEBSITES •
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http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/mtpmspu1138.pdf Dryland Pastures in Montana and Wyoming - Species and Cultivars, Seeding Techniques and Grazing Management; Holzworth, L.K., J. Mosley, D. Cash, D. Koch, and K. Crane. 2001. Bridger Plant Material Center, Montana State University, University of Wyoming, Montana NRCS State Office, Bozeman, MT. EB 19. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmctn5976a.pdf ID Technical Note 7 (revised): Mixing Seed with Rice Hulls. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmstn5465.pdf ID Technical Note 9A: Plants for Saline to Sodic Soil Conditions. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmstn6306.pdf ID Technical Note 10: Pasture and Range Seedings: Planning – Installation – Evaluation – Management. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmctn7247.pdf ID Technical Note 19: Calibrating a Seed Drill for Conservation Plantings. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmctn4620.pdf ID Technical Note 24: Grass, Grass-Like, Forb, Legume, and Woody Species for the Intermountain West. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/mtpmctn10704.pdf Standard and Preferred Forage and Reclamation Plants for Use in Montana and Wyoming http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/idpmctn380201.pdf ID Technical Note 38: Users Guide to Description, Propagation and Establishment of Wetland Plant Species and Grasses for Riparian Areas in the Intermountain West. ftp://ftpfc.sc.egov.usda.gov/MT/www/technical/plants/technotes/PMC_Tech_Note_MT46_Rev3.pdf MT Technical Note 46: Seeding Rate Specifications and Recommended Cultivars and Germplasm for all Vegetative Practices. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/mtpmcarcoalbed.pdf Fact Sheet for the Reclamation of Plant Seedlings on Coalbed Methane Pipelines and Drilling Sites; R. Hybner and L. Holzworth. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/ndpmctn9415.pdf Improved Forage Grass Releases by the Bismarck Plant Materials Center and Partners. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/ndpmcbk7681.pdf Grasses for the Northern Plains: Growth Patterns, Forage Characteristics and Wildlife Values, Volume 1 - Cool Season. Sedivec, K., D. Tober, W. Duckwitz, D. Dewald, J. Printz. 2007. NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, ND. October 2007. 89p. http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/ndpmcbk9425.pdf Grasses for the Northern Plains: Growth Patterns, Forage Characteristics and Wildlife Values, Volume 2 - Warm Season. Sedivec, K,, D. Tober, W. Duckwitz, D. Dewald, J. Printz, and D. Craig. 2009. NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, North Dakota, Fargo, ND. August 2009. 67p. http://ars.usda.gov/npa/frrl/plantsforthewest Plant Releases: Plants for the West. USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Laboratory – Logan, Utah, 27p.
REFERENCES 1. Forage and Reclamation Grasses of the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, M. Majerus, 2009. 2. Range Plants of Montana, EB 122, Montana State University Cooperative Extension Service, July 2004. 3. Grasses for the Northern Plains: Growth Patterns, Forage Characteristics and Wildlife Values, Volume 1 - Cool Season. Sedivec, K., D. Tober, W. Duckwitz, D. Dewald, J. Printz. 2007. NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, ND. October 2007. 89p 4. Grasses for the Northern Plains: Growth Patterns, Forage Characteristics and Wildlife Values, Volume 2 - Warm Season. Sedivec, K., D. Tober, W. Duckwitz, D. Dewald, J. Printz, and D. Craig. 2009. NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, North Dakota, Fargo, ND. August 2009. 67p. 5. Plant Releases – Plants for the West, USDA- ARS Forage and Range Research Laboratory – Logan, Utah.
Roger Hybner, Research Agronomist, USDA-NRCS, Bridger Plant Materials Center, 98 S. River Rd, Bridger, MT 59014 406-6623-3579 X 100, roger.hybner@mt.usda.gov