Couple of Pasture Management Questions

[drjay44]

New guy.

Couple of questions.

1. Is rotational grazing necessary for 2 horses on app. 7 acres?

2. If I do rotational I see conflicting info re: time on/off pasture. Some keep horses off for only a week or two yet others recommend at least a month to let pasture “heal” Is there really one correct method?

3.I live in N. central Florida and I see lots of folks overseed with annual rye to provide forage during winter rather than spending money on supplemental hay. Problem with annual rye is it must be done each year however I imagine still cheaper than buying hay all winter.

I am considering the following and would appreciate input.

Rather than seeding with annual rye why not perennial rye? This would green up in the colder months and in the warmer months my “regular” grasses will be growing while the rye is dormant. I would not have to reseed each year with the perennial.

I would also like to overseed my pastures with bahia, the predominant grass on my land. I imagine this would necessitate keeping the horses off the seeded pasture until say May or June if seeded now ? As I understand it the rye will be mature enough to let horses graze in about 6 weeks if conditions (rain,fertilizer) are correct.

I guess I really cannot seed perennial rye and bahia together as the horses will destroy the bahia if put on too soon to graze the rye.

So given a choice due to financial constraints would you reseed with bahia and supplement during winter with store bought forage or just go with the rye grass?

Appreciate the input

[JB]

@drjay44

• Is rotational grazing necessary for 2 horses on app. 7 acres?

Maybe, maybe not. It largely depends on how well-stocked the pasture is with grass(es), vs grass and weeds, vs weeds, as well as how many hours a day they’re out there over how many months. Maybe Spring and early Summer it’s fine, maybe a dry mid-late Summer it would be beneficial

@drjay44

If I do rotational I see conflicting info re: time on/off pasture. Some keep horses off for only a week or two yet others recommend at least a month to let pasture “heal” Is there really one correct method?

Not sure if you mean off pasture totally, or just off a particular section.

How long you rest a section you’re taking them off really depends on the growing situation and the type of grass. If you’ve allowed fescue to be grazed down to 3" and it’s the heat of Summer without a lot of rain and it’s not growing much, then it may need a month to recover health to the point it can be grazed again

If it’s a warm season grass like Bermuda, and you have decent rain, then (Coastal) Bermuda as hay does best when cut about every 3 weeks, so you could theoretically rotate back on it after 2 weeks or so.

1 week is unlikely to be long enough to recover health (ie get taller) for most grasses at most points of the growing season. So it comes down to - how tall is it ideal for that type of grass before you graze it again

@drjay44

.I live in N. central Florida and I see lots of folks overseed with annual rye to provide forage during winter rather than spending money on supplemental hay. Problem with annual rye is it must be done each year however I imagine still cheaper than buying hay all winter.

Most horses are fine with this. Metabolic horses would not be. You’d have to look at your cost of the annual/winter rye to improve the pasture enough to the point you don’t need to feed hay, to determine how cost-effective it is for you.

@drjay44

Rather than seeding with annual rye why not perennial rye?

Ryegrass staggers is too big of a concern.

@drjay44

I would also like to overseed my pastures with bahia, the predominant grass on my land. I imagine this would necessitate keeping the horses off the seeded pasture until say May or June if seeded now ?

If it’s just a general overseed to improve what’s already relatively decent, then you could fence off your pasture in half, do one half this year and the other half next year

You’d want to talk to your extension agency about when’s the best time to plant that type of grass where you are. Here in NC, warm season grasses get put out in the Spring when soil temps have warmed up, and it’s probably similar for you, depending on how cool your Winters are. Cool season grasses go out in the Fall, when soil is still warm, but air is cooler

@drjay44

So given a choice due to financial constraints would you reseed with bahia and supplement during winter with store bought forage or just go with the rye grass?

See above. You need to now the best time for Bahia to be seeded.

[lenapesadie]

Bahaia overseeding is not particularly successful as it wants dirt contact and suffers greatly from being over shaded by existing vegetation. Common Bermuda has done better overseeded for me.

Perennial ryegrass has both the staggers concern and quite frankly it doesn’t put enough growth up to be worthwhile.

Annual ryegrass seed is far cheaper than Bahaia seed. In addition to providing winter grazing it helps control, by out competing, winter weeds. I think it also protects the warm season sods from winter traffic damage.

It’s probably a touch late to “fall” plant Bahaia. The consensus is that spring planting is “better” locally.

I would plan to rotate simply because that makes it so much easier to do pasture maintenance and improvements. The cycle times vary wildly. In a good growing season, on a mostly Bahaia pasture, it might grow 6” in a week. In a dry summer, it might grow 6” all season. Measuring the leaf not the seed heads.

I’m near Pensacola. These statements are based on my experience and observations locally. YMMV.

[drjay44]

I appreciate the replies. Staggers ? Lots to learn. Time to hit the books

Thanks again !!

[NoSuchPerson]

I used to live in N. Florida, but not in the panhandle region. I had 5 acres divided into two fields. I rotated between the two every couple of weeks. The property had been used for growing peanuts before I bought it so was dirt/weeds to start with. I planted bahia and overseeded with annual rye for winter.

It may seem counter intuitive, but a key element, especially when you’re trying to establish or re-establish pasture, is to mow, mow, mow. Diligent mowing really helps keep the weeds down and the grass grows better.

Perennial rye is a different thing than annual rye and as everyone else has already said, don’t use perennial rye in your pastures.

Having come from Kentucky, my Florida pastures were always a huge disappointment. They were never anywhere near as thick and green and lush as what I thought good pasture ought to be. I always thought that if I had had sufficient funds to fertilize more and irrigate, I could get closer to that “good” pasture, but [shrug] you do what you can.

When I moved my Florida horses to western North Carolina a few years ago, they thought they had died and gone to heaven.

[ThreeWishes]

@NoSuchPerson

It may seem counter intuitive, but a key element, especially when you’re trying to establish or re-establish pasture, is to mow, mow, mow. Diligent mowing really helps keep the weeds down and the grass grows better.

Agree 100%. I call it mechanical weeding . The
Bahia grass really appreciates the head start against woody weeds.

[4horses]

Can you irrigate your pasture? The biggest issue with over seeding rye is going to be rainfall. If you get ample amounts of rain this winter, it should be fine. This would probably be a bad year to try if you don’t have irrigation. This has been one of the driest summers in the past several years and I’m not expecting that to change much at all. My pasture is completely barren in the parts that I’m not watering. Bahia likes lots of water. We have not had rain in weeks except for a sprinkle. If I was going to plant rye, I would be investing heavily in irrigation.

[SusanO]

This has been the problem with my area (Central Alabama). You have to wait until it gets warm to plant the warm season grasses like Bahia and Bermuda. Then it doesn’t rain all summer. I just gave up on my front yard. Too many other things to water in the summer. I used to sow winter rye so I had green grass one season during the year.

I extended one pasture and before I let the horses out on it, I hit it with lime, broad leaf weed killer, Round-up and Pasture Pro. And I cut all the weed seed tops off the plants and bagged them up for trash pickup. It had a LOT of weeds there. Then we would get one sprinkle and rain in the forecast so I would run out there with bermuda seed and sow the bare spots. Then it didn’t rain. We would get more rain in the forecast so I would sow again. One sprinkle and then dry for weeks. I finally gave up and let the horses out there. I know it will rain this winter. But it will be too cool for warm season grass to germinate and grow.

My big pasture is full of Bahia. It is one tough grass and can handle the summer droughts. My horses don’t like it that well because of its high lignin content but they really love the seed heads. I think winter rye is pretty high in sugars but that might not be a risk for your horses.

[Weezer]

I have 2 horses on 6 acres of pasture that I never seed and only fertilize by harrowing manure. So there are lots of weeds, but also lots of grass. I don’t rotate grazing, but I do confine them to a couple of acres during the muddy seasons so they don’t tear up the whole property. I also mow regularly. I’ve been doing this for over 10 years with no problems. My horses don’t get hay for about 4 months because there is enough grass. They do get grain, ration balancer, etc.