Grassland Improvement

[Mason Brubaker]

On a property in NDak, due west of Bismark, about half of it is in grass (on some side slopes that the farmer can't get equipment to). It's mostly brome, but has a lot of warm seasons mixed in. We're looking to improve that land for nesting cover, as it is roughly 160 acres of the farm (it's not in CRP. My dad bought the place for hunting, we want to do whatever we want to manage it most effectively and not have to deal with compliance issues.). If we were to have it grazed by the farmer in the late summer, and then hit with herbicide after the first frost, do y'all think there'd be a good chance that it would release the warm seasons growing in it? Or should we just look to nuke it and plant our desired cover? I'm aware that brome does provide some semblance of nesting cover, so we would most likely do it over the span of a couple years (less cost prohibitive that way anyway). Especially if we had to reseed it with natives. TIA !

 

[WDH]

Is there any chance you can do a controlled burn? That is one of the best ways to knock back the brome and stimulate warm season grass growth. Trying to use chemicals in a mixed species pasture is tough, you have to time it perfect. The brome would need to be sprayed in the spring, before any green up of the warm season plants. Spraying after first frost, the plants likely would not absorb and translocate the chemical. Killing the entire stand and replant works well if you kill it, late plant some milo (catches snow, chance to respray weeds), then reseed. Replanting into killed grass is tough, as you have lots of weed seed that will out compete new seedlings. Side slopes might be tough to do this though.
Good Luck.

 

[Mason Brubaker]

I was under the impression that cool seasons are best sprayed after first frost, as that is the queue for them to begin translocating all energy to the root system. This video talks about what I'm saying.

 

[Mason Brubaker]

Is there any chance you can do a controlled burn? That is one of the best ways to knock back the brome and stimulate warm season grass growth. Trying to use chemicals in a mixed species pasture is tough, you have to time it perfect. The brome would need to be sprayed in the spring, before any green up of the warm season plants. Spraying after first frost, the plants likely would not absorb and translocate the chemical. Killing the entire stand and replant works well if you kill it, late plant some milo (catches snow, chance to respray weeds), then reseed. Replanting into killed grass is tough, as you have lots of weed seed that will out compete new seedlings. Side slopes might be tough to do this though.
Good Luck.

Also, from our experience seeding prairie, spring chemical applications usually come with grassy weed problems, ie. foxtail, whereas fall applications illicit a more broadleaved response, like ragweed and others, which are easier to control via mowing until prairie retakes the area. All that said, this is given that the native seedbank is relatively intact, which it very well could not be. But the slopes are very, well... sloped I guess. I'd find it hard to believe that they tilled all this stuff up a hundred years ago and planted brome into it but I guess I could be wrong.

 

[SDinWI]

I was just going to say the same thing, Mason. Fall is best for cool season grass control.

Another idea you could do, too, is spray clethodim to try to promote some areas of only forbs to promote areas of increased insects for chicks.

I think a fall gly spraying of the brome on the hillsides would do well and you would have a lot of new diversity the next year. You could try that and see how a section does. Then, go all out with more acres if it works well like you’re planning on. A fire would be great if you’re able to, but I think mowing the brome a week or so before spraying would help get good contact when spraying. Sounds like it’s pretty hilly, so not sure how much equipment you feel safe with. Frost seeding or drilling would work well after that.

 

[Mason Brubaker]

I was just going to say the same thing, Mason. Fall is best for cool season grass control.

Another idea you could do, too, is spray clethodim to try to promote some areas of only forbs to promote areas of increased insects for chicks.

I think a fall gly spraying of the brome on the hillsides would do well and you would have a lot of new diversity the next year. You could try that and see how a section does. Then, go all out with more acres if it works well like you’re planning on. A fire would be great if you’re able to, but I think mowing the brome a week or so before spraying would help get good contact when spraying. Sounds like it’s pretty hilly, so not sure how much equipment you feel safe with. Frost seeding or drilling would work well after that.

For sure! We're going for production on this piece of the property, not so much winter habitat or even hunting habitat at that, so we are going to try to manage for a more forb heavy area here. I'd like a clump of grass every so often though to provide nesting substrate. Maybe 15% grass, remainder in forbs. Sound good?

 

[SDinWI]

I like 15% for that! Light but that’s good for what you want. Grasses tend to fill in a bit over time, too. Little bluestem and similar I’d say.

 

[Mason Brubaker]

I like 15% for that! Light but that’s good for what you want. Grasses tend to fill in a bit over time, too. Little bluestem and similar I’d say.

Looks like indiangrass, big blue, and some switch is in there currently. Obviously being choked out by the brome, but it being there in general makes me think there's prolly a half decent seedbank still there.

 

[SDinWI]

Oh yeah, good deal! Try it out and post some before/after pics!

 

[wildcat]

i have done all of these;
disked, burned ,chemicals, fall spray, spring spray, baled and prayed
i have found a burn or haying off in spring then sprayed Roundup before ground is 48 degrees usually before May 1 in SE SD worked the best
warm season are dormant and will not be harmed
brome will be green and take up chemicals esp if old grass has been removed and you will get an excellent kill
fall spray killed thistles well but not the brome
i have it sprayed with a helicopter and some people have used a surfactant additive also
the results have been remarkable and outstanding
this has been the simplest and most efficient method i have found
must have some warm season grass present or native prairie that has never been broken but overtaken by brome
try a small patch to prove it to yourself

 

[rangerman]

Another suggestion.
1. Evaluate your grass stand for percentage of brome.
2. Mark areas that have a satisfactory stand of native warm season grass that dont need treatment.
3. Conduct a spring burn to set brome back and eliminate thatch.
4. Mix roundup 1.5 qts + 6oz plateau + non ionic surfactant + 20 gallons of water per acre and apply in areas where brome is dominant. Application should be post burn after green up and soil temps approaching 65 degrees.
5. Recommend a Great Plains 705 no till drill or Truax flex II 88 no till drill with grassland box. Plant native warm season grass with pollinators in areas that were treated with herbicide. Native warm season grass should be planted 1/16 - 1/8 deep, no more than 1/4".
6. Apply plateau herbicide post emergent if brome, foxtail or fescue appears. Do exceed 12 oz of plateau in a single growing year.

Typically in my part of the country, native warm season grass is planted April 1 to June 1

 

[Mason Brubaker]

Another suggestion.
1. Evaluate your grass stand for percentage of brome.
2. Mark areas that have a satisfactory stand of native warm season grass that dont need treatment.
3. Conduct a spring burn to set brome back and eliminate thatch.
4. Mix roundup 1.5 qts + 6oz plateau + non ionic surfactant + 20 gallons of water per acre and apply in areas where brome is dominant. Application should be post burn after green up and soil temps approaching 65 degrees.
5. Recommend a Great Plains 705 no till drill or Truax flex II 88 no till drill with grassland box. Plant native warm season grass with pollinators in areas that were treated with herbicide. Native warm season grass should be planted 1/16 - 1/8 deep, no more than 1/4".
6. Apply plateau herbicide post emergent if brome, foxtail or fescue appears. Do exceed 12 oz of plateau in a single growing year.

Typically in my part of the country, native warm season grass is planted April 1 to June 1

I like that, if I were going for a grass heavy stand. The stand is roughly 25% natives and 75% brome across entire area. While we are able to burn, and most certainly will once we get prairie in there, pre herbicide application we are leaning towards a high stocking density spring grazing for these reasons: 1- Remove brome growth and break apart/incorporate brome thatch. 2- disturb a little bit of soil to see what kind of forb response we have before making a decision on whether we will spray and let go, or have to replant. 3- get a little cash to offset the cost of possibly reseeding, and cash is always nice. That being said, we plan on putting in cattle in the spring to suppress brome, pulling them off all summer, see what we got, and then coming back in august or September and hitting it again to remove plant litter so we get good herbicide contact when we decide to spray. We're going for native prairie here, and I simply don't want any brome in it. Pretty cut and dry. We have planted tens of acres of prairie on our place back home in PA as part of the pheasant restoration project and I'd like to steer clear of those costs if at all possible.