Ryegrass big mistake or little mistake and how to rectify

[WKyGasDoc]

Sooo We made a mistake this weekend we topdressed a spindly radish/clover plot with perennial tetraploid ryegrass . 50#/ 2acres. Before it was realized it was ryegrass and not rye grain....
1. will it draw deer well?
2. Guess I should kill it next spring?
3. Anyone ever used ryegrass for deer plots? (it is a poor soil plot but....)
4 I once read about some type of ryegrass , sweet ryegrass like sucragrass?? that some liked to use

Any help is appreciated

 

[yoderjac]

1) Generally, no. There are some guys who really know what they are doing who do use high sucrose ryegrass in their programs. Deer will eat ryegrass, but most ryegrass is not on their preferred list.

2) Ryegrass can become invasive and hard to kill in some areas with some soils. If you don't want it I'd kill it now. The more established it gets, the harder it will be to get rid of.

3)Winter Rye is a cereal grain which is different from ryegrass (which can be annual or perennial). It grows well in poor soil and deer love it when it is young in my area. It can be planted pretty late. You should put your USDA zone and general location in your profile. I'd be tempted to kill the ryegrass and plant WR depending on your location.

Thansk,

Jack.

 

[WKyGasDoc]

yes, I just hate to kill the other good stuff in the plot. I may wait to kill early spring. Would do after hunting season but doubt chemical be very effective.

Qdma had a great article on this , especially tetraploid grass, it is used a lot for livestock. Here is the article https://www.qdma.com/ryegrass-going-grain/

 

[Tree Spud]

Qdma had a great article on this , especially tetraploid grass, it is used a lot for livestock. Here is the article https://www.qdma.com/ryegrass-going-grain/

I'll get the popcorn out ...

 

[Iowa_Dave]

If the ryegrass has germinated...would it be feasible to hit it now with clethodim? Leaving whatever else you have growing alone? The immediately seed rye grain. I agree with whoever said that if you don't want it, I would kill it sooner, rather than later.

 

[SwampCat]

Kill it early next spring before seed heads form. I have been battling annual ryegrass for years and it gets thicker every year. Deer will eat annual ryegrass at my place

 

[Bill]

I’m with iowa_Dave, use clethodim to kill the grass and not hurt your broadleaf. Then use cereal rye.

 

[WKyGasDoc]

Kill it early next spring before seed heads form. I have been battling annual ryegrass for years and it gets thicker every year. Deer will eat annual ryegrass at my place

So I have to ask, it has high protein, easy to grow, drought tolerant, if it draws deer and req less maintence why not grow it?? It doesn't fit into the QDMA/Foodplot economy of having to plant, spray, disc, drill and all the work every year or a few....Seems like it may have a place, albeit not a total solution...

New Zealand uses a similar variety for their deer/stag fields

 

[Rit]

It’s used and sold as a cover crop. Extensive root system, soil health etc but plenty of reasons listed above as to why you don’t want to use it. It’s even a major component in Green Cover Seeds fall deer blend.

 

[SwampCat]

So I have to ask, it has high protein, easy to grow, drought tolerant, if it draws deer and req less maintence why not grow it?? It doesn't fit into the QDMA/Foodplot economy of having to plant, spray, disc, drill and all the work every year or a few....Seems like it may have a place, albeit not a total solution...

New Zealand uses a similar variety for their deer/stag fields

my fall planted wheat plots provide summer attraction for doves. The annual ryegrass chokes out the wheat

 

[Baker]

I hate rye grass!!! Its all over my farm. Impossible to get rid of. Infests my food plots . I can spray with cleth in spring several times and not get rid of it all the while it chokes out wheat..well everything. Deer graze it very little. Right up there with tallow trees and roaches in my opinion. Its capacity to regen is incredible in the south!

 

[WKyGasDoc]

Baker , how did it invade your farm? Where you located?

 

[WKyGasDoc]

my fall planted wheat plots provide summer attraction for doves. The annual ryegrass chokes out the wheat

is perennial tetraploid RG better?

 

[Baker]

Baker , how did it invade your farm? Where you located?

Louisiana. Actually about 3 hours away from the eye of Delta arriving. Having a hurricane party as we speak. Rye grass has been here since I started clearing fields. I have never planted it. It just showed up. Over 30 years it has established itself in every opening. I only try to deal with it in my cultivated fields. Cattle farmers in the area plant it for winter grazing. It spreads like crazy from seed here in the deep south.

 

[scott44]

Louisiana. Actually about 3 hours away from the eye of Delta arriving. Having a hurricane party as we speak. Rye grass has been here since I started clearing fields. I have never planted it. It just showed up. Over 30 years it has established itself in every opening. I only try to deal with it in my cultivated fields. Cattle farmers in the area plant it for winter grazing. It spreads like crazy from seed here in the deep south.

Stay safe

 

[WTNUT]

Kill it early next spring before seed heads form. I have been battling annual ryegrass for years and it gets thicker every year. Deer will eat annual ryegrass at my place

So I have to ask, it has high protein, easy to grow, drought tolerant, if it draws deer and req less maintence why not grow it?? It doesn't fit into the QDMA/Foodplot economy of having to plant, spray, disc, drill and all the work every year or a few....Seems like it may have a place, albeit not a total solution...

New Zealand uses a similar variety for their deer/stag fields

This is a no-brainer. Hit it hard with Clethodim asap. It has no place in a quality foodplot program if you can grow anything else in that soil. You can spray it now and still broadcast Rye GRAIN in Kentucky and you will get good germination and what you wanted to start with before making a mistake.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[WKyGasDoc]

The seed has not germinated yet , just hit the ground 2 days ago before the rain. Don't think spraying Cleth at this time will do anything until we get some germination. If this was on a low priority food plot I would likely just leave it and see what happens. But on this plot I will rotate the "crops"

 

[Lucky_P]

Huh. I've been planting annual ryegrass as part of the forage mix - along with wheat and rye, and various clovers - in my wildlife foodplots for nearly 50 years... in east-central AL, southern Middle TN, Mid-MO, and here in southern west-central KY for the past 25 years. Just finished sowing cover crops (wheat/rye/ryegrass on about 15 acres that we'd planted in CBD/floral hemp in 2019. Deer and turkeys are already hitting them hard.
Never saw a 'downside' to having ryegrass in the mix; additionally, as most of these plots were either part of a livestock winter-grazing field, or were eventually opened periodically for flash-grazing by the cows in early spring, the annual ryegrass was a definite PLUS.
Personally, I'd leave it... but I have no experience with perennial ryegrass... or even how 'perennial' it is here in KY. Have never had annual ryegrass be 'invasive'... though it will often reseed pretty reliably in some settings, not requiring new seeding for 3 or 4 years sometimes, before it peters out.
If you're gonna 'rotate crops' by plowing under whatever you have, come spring, I don't think it's likely to be an issue, particularly if you do it before it seeds out, along about June.

 

[crowskee]

So I have to ask, it has high protein, easy to grow, drought tolerant, if it draws deer and req less maintence why not grow it?? It doesn't fit into the QDMA/Foodplot economy of having to plant, spray, disc, drill and all the work every year or a few....Seems like it may have a place, albeit not a total solution...

New Zealand uses a similar variety for their deer/stag fields

Yes but a whitetail is a browser and stags are grazers.

 

[WKyGasDoc]

crowskee has a good point...