Switchgrass plan

[waitforit]

Hey all,

I want to get some input on my plan for switchgrass on my place in central MN. I will be using this primarily as a screen between my boundary (woodline) and my food plot strip - so basically a strip of switch that is about 1500 feet long and maybe 30 feet wide.

The field is currently in orchardgrass for hay production but I'm taking it out and slowly planning to establish switch or other native grasses as cover. I have no large equipment but I do have an ATV sprayer and broadcast seeder.. so I figured I could do either:

Plan A
Spray now with green up with roundup
Spray again in mid may with roundup, 2-4d
Spray a 3rd time with roundup in June (Question: Do I need simazine as well?)
Broadcast stratified (soft) switch seed into dead standing orchardgrass

Plan B
Spray now with roundup
Broadcast RR soybeans
Spray again with roundup after establishment
Topdress with cereal rye grain this fall (just for the deer/food)
Next spring - frost seed switch into dead soybean stalks/rye
Spray simazine and roundup prior to green-up of the switch

Thoughts?

 

[Foggy47]

Hey all,

I want to get some input on my plan for switchgrass on my place in central MN. I will be using this primarily as a screen between my boundary (woodline) and my food plot strip - so basically a strip of switch that is about 1500 feet long and maybe 30 feet wide.

The field is currently in orchardgrass for hay production but I'm taking it out and slowly planning to establish switch or other native grasses as cover. I have no large equipment but I do have an ATV sprayer and broadcast seeder.. so I figured I could do either:

Plan A
Spray now with green up with roundup
Spray again in mid may with roundup, 2-4d
Spray a 3rd time with roundup in June (Question: Do I need simazine as well?)
Broadcast stratified (soft) switch seed into dead standing orchardgrass

Plan B
Spray now with roundup
Broadcast RR soybeans
Spray again with roundup after establishment
Topdress with cereal rye grain this fall (just for the deer/food)
Next spring - frost seed switch into dead soybean stalks/rye
Spray simazine and roundup prior to green-up of the switch

Thoughts?

Not sure where in Central MN you are located? If you know a farmer with a drill.....I would certainly go for option 1.....DEPENDING on the brand of switchgrass you are about to plant.

even if you did not have a drill.....and used the new faster germinating switchgrass seeds (RC Brand) you would get good results with option one if you have a packer or used your wheeler to pack the seeds.

I'd like to plant 'em for you....but I got a full plate and do not have a way to haul my tractor and drill. I am doing almost the very thing you are and wont start on my chemical application until mid May......and drilling my RC switch in June.

My plan is to:

1. Mow to 6" high or so. (to better distinguish the areas I want to burn down with chemicals)
2. Use glyphosate and 24d to do inital burn down
3. Wait two to three weeks and apply gly again
4. Two days later drill the RC Sundance switch (fast germination and hardy to zone 4 and likely zone 3). 5 to 6 lbs / acre drilled - 7or 8 if broadcast.
5. Apply Simazine within a week after drilling the seeds.....sooner if it's going to rain.
6. do a rain dance

EDIT: Be very wary of where you get your information on Switch. The new varieties are not like the old ones....and need the newer methods to kill the weeds / crops before planting. Lots of video on doing this that are 3+ years old.....and they can provide the means to kill your switch IMO. Follow video instruction by John Komp at Northwoods Whitetails . Check it out on Youtube. My 2 cents.

 

[Foggy47]

Also, there is a good Switchgrass page on Facebook.....that can provide real good information too. Follow intel by Roger Sampson and others.

 

[Bill]

Is this screen of your food plot on the boundary meant to keep the neighbors from seeing/shooting into the plot?

 

[waitforit]

SW corner of mille lacs county.

I will check out the videos you suggested.

I get a lot of deer traffic over the boundary and I think having only open hayfield makes them jet across quickly back into the woods. I'm hoping that a buffer of tall switch will slow them down, then they will have a strip of food to chew on, then more Switch to hide in. Nobody actually hunts (at least not visible to me) the property next door. Where my property is, there is about 65% ag fields and 35% woods and I'm hoping to create more edge cover adjacent to the treeline field boundaries.

I had been reading up on the newer RC varieties and hoping they will be a good fit. Planning to establish 1-2 acres at a time and see how it goes and then eventually convert most of the hay ground to warm season grasses with pockets of shrubs and conifers over time.

 

[Foggy47]

Regarding the Simazine. It's a pre-emergent and applying it at or shortly after planting your switch will provide some time for the switch to grow but will prevent many other things from growing over a period of several weeks. Enough time to get that switch established and then it will out-compete most of the other 'weeds" and grasses. .......or so it is hoped.

 

[Foggy47]

 

[Brian662]

I would go with Plan A to get a start this year.

A few things come to mind -
-You only need 2,4D if you have broadleafs coming in that aren't controlled by glyphosate, each situation is different.
-We are barely seeing any green here in Southeast MN, I would wait a few weeks before first spray.
-You may get by with two sprayings and can tank mix simazine with your second Gly application if you choose to save spraying.
-Seeding rate depends on goals, if using RC line for screen, I'd use between 6-8 lbs/acre. Low side for drill, high side for broadcast.
-If you can't get a drill, I would NOT broadcast seed with a 4 wheeler, do it by hand with a hand crank style spreader. Seed is too expensive and you don't want to take the chance of overseeded areas from erratic 4 wheeler spreaders.
-Your 1st year results will improve if you're able to cultipack the broadcast seed into the ground.

Good luck!