Beef Producer
BP6 May 2012
‘Go native’ with new pasture?
He planted some 1,200 acres to Old
World bluestems, or OWBs — specifiIGH fertilizer prices have some beef cally Plains and WW Spar varieties. He put
producers considering a return to those acres into the Conservation Reserve
native grasses and the abandonment Program. As this land came out of the proof nitrogen-gobbling introduced species.
gram, Cook began using it for stocker and
Even with high cattle prices, fertilizer cow-calf operations. His latest plantings
purchases greatly reduce profits, they say. on 200 acres were a native-grass mixture of
“Returning pastures to native grasses blue gramma, switchgrass, little bluestem
is not as easy as it sounds,” says Stacey and side-oats grama.
Gunter, research leader at the USDA
“Both introduced and native grasses
Agricultural Research Service Southern have advantages and disadvantages,” says
Plains Range Research Station near Cook. “A disadvantage of OWBs is they
Woodward, Okla.
require a lot more management
Hay and
“Old World bluestems build a
than native grasses. To maintain
Forage
huge seed bank in soil, and with
production, we have to fertilize
the right weather conditions or
the OWBs every third year. We rosoil disturbance, seed prolifically
tationally graze and fertilize pasgerminates to reestablish plant
tures that have cattle on them.
populations,” Gunter explains.
“Native-grass pastures are
“It is very hard for native-grass
less costly to maintain because
seedlings to compete with most
they don’t need fertilizer,” he
introduced perennial forage. That is why adds. “Although stocking rates are less on
native-grass planting is occurring on mar- native pastures, grazing does not have to
ginal land where crop production is no be managed as closely as in the OWB paslonger profitable. It is much easier to estab- tures. During normal rainfall of 21 inches
lish native grass on abandoned cropland per year, we graze the introduced grass
than where introduced grasses have been pastures at an animal unit for every 8 to
established.”
10 acres. Twenty acres per animal unit is
David Cook is planting cropland to required on the native-grass pastures.”
native grasses on his property southeast of
Cook says Old World bluestems are
Canadian, Texas. Cook farmed about 1,600 easier to establish than native grasses.
acres with one full-time employee and
“I can graze Old World bluestems within
help from his two sons during the summer. one to two years after planting. It takes at
When escalated diesel and fertilizer prices least three years to establish a good stand
took a chunk out of his profits, he changed. of the native-grass mix,” he compares.
By ROBERT FEARS
H
BECOMING NATIVE: Side-oats grama
is part of a native-grass mix David Cook
sowed on his Canadian, Texas, ranch.
STRONG, TOUGH: Native grasses are
normally more drought tolerant than
introduced grasses. This little bluestem
grass on a ranch near Brady, Texas,
survived the summer in excellent
condition. The photo was taken Nov. 22.
“With good growing conditions, the native
grasses can sometimes be lightly grazed
for a short period [flash grazing] during
the second year after planting.”
Getting it started
Gunter agrees with Cook in that native
grasses require fewer inputs than OWBs,
and that OWBs need substantial amounts
of nitrogen. Gunter recommends nativegrass mixtures rather than a single grass
because different species will establish
themselves on ecological sites for which
they are most suited.
Cook also has observed this phenomenon. He plants native grasses on rolling
terrain in fields that have old terraces. He
has noticed that switchgrass becomes
established at the bottom of the terraces
where water is impounded following
rain. Upslope in drier soils, there is predominance of little bluestem and side-oats
grama. At the highest points, only little
bluestem is found.
“Since native-grass seed is expensive,
you want to properly prepare the site and
plant when weather conditions are favorable for good seed germination,” says
Gunter. “Collect soil samples and send
them to a testing laboratory for fertility
and pH analyses. Then add soil amendments at the rates recommended on the
laboratory report.”
Plant when the amount of soil moisture is sufficient for seed germination,
and when good growing conditions are
expected, he says.
Converting introduced-grass pastures
to native forage will probably not be successful. Today’s economics, however, suggest native grasses are worth considering
when planting new pastures.
Fears writes from Georgetown, Texas,
and owns RJ Consultant Services.
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