As we move into spring there are several things you can do to improve the development of your new stands of tall fescue planted in 2023, and to prepare land that is scheduled for renovation in the Fall of 2024.
If you have not yet applied nitrogen to new stands, that should be done as soon as possible to stimulate growth. An application of 30 to 50 lbs of N/acre is plenty. If you didn’t fertilize to soil test in the fall, apply complete fertilizer or lime to correct any deficiencies. If you didn’t soil test, it is never too late to pull samples and make sure you have adequate soil conditions for establishment.
It is critical to walk your new stands and assess the weed population present. If there are winter broadleaf weeds like buttercup, purple deadnettle, henbit, etc., then controlling them now will be important for stand development. Talk to your extension agent or another experienced advisor to choose an herbicide that will get the weeds you have. Some weeds like henbit will be pretty tolerant of most herbicides you can get, but they will usually at least be suppressed, allowing the new fescue stand to get ahead.
If you find you have cool-season grassy weeds, such as Ryegrass, then make a plan to lightly graze these stands before the fescue would normally be ready to graze. Cattle will generally go around and graze the larger and softer ryegrass plants and will graze little on the tall fescue. If you do this early grazing, make sure you don’t leave the animals one day too long, resulting in short grazing of the tall fescue stand.
Finally, plan now how you will remove the growth from the new fescue stands. Farmers often want to cut hay the first spring (after a fall seeding), and that is acceptable as long as the hay is cut earlier and at a little higher cutting height than you usually use. This will help the fescue to recover and cover the soil quickly, reducing the chance of warm season grasses germinating and developing into a stand that could hurt your establishment. Waiting to make hay until early summer (as is often the case with cool-season grass hay) may lead to problems due to competition with summer weeds.
Another option is to graze to remove the early growth. Wait until you have about 12 inches of height, and graze down to 6 inches, again leaving more residual than you usually might. The stands might need to be grazed several times during the spring to help the plants develop into a dense stand before hot and dry weather may set in. If you expect summer weeds, then make sure and control them as this is a good opportunity to go into your project with reduced weed seed population.
As you consider other fields for planting in fall of 2024, layout a production calendar so you know what the critical dates are for various steps in your project. Remember that it is critical to control seedhead production this spring. Clip those fields about the time you start seeing pollen, and clip again if additional seedheads are produced. Grazing followed by clipping will be your best approach so you get forage production from the fields this spring. If you plan on using a smother crop, kill the old stand in late spring with glyphosate or tillage (usually after grazing once or cutting early hay), and then plant the smother crop (usually millet or sorghum/sudan). If you plan to use the spray-wait-spray-plant, then make sure you do a good job of controlling weed seed production throughout the summer. ~ Matt Poore, NC State and chair of the Alliance for Grassland Renewal
The Alliance for Grassland Renewal 