Ryegrass can be mixed with fertilizer and applied to the pasture through the fertilizer spreader or it can be spread with a three point whirly bird type seeder. It can also be planted by a drill with a small seed box but care should be taken to not plant it deeper than ¼ inch. With broadcast seeding, pulling a chain harrow over the pasture after seeding will increase germination and survival of the plants.

Not enough to depend upon, and in some areas you're not allowed to graze your horses or stock. If you'd like to complete the entire PCT in one season (thru-ride) you'll need 6 pounds of grain or pellets per animal/per day (2 pounds/3 times per day). During a thru-ride, a support person(s) is needed to bring hay, grain and provisions to the riders. It's possible to complete two-week trips without support.

Mid February through Mid April is the best time. Later than this, we run into problems with excessive annual grass competition and moisture loss during the time the Bermuda grass is trying to spread.

Disk it in September or October and let it winter kill. You will not get 100% control and you will essentially be re-sprigging the Bermuda grass. Also expect new plants to come up from seed. There are some chemicals that are active against Bahia. Check with your extension educator for chemical options.

Probably not, since native grass in good condition needs little or no management inputs, there is no cheaper way to put forage in an animal if you have plenty of acres. On the other hand, if you have few acres, and must raise a large number of animals on a small acreage, then an introduced grass might fit you better.

To establish a lawn in western Washington, choose a combination of turftype tall fescue grasses and turftype perennial rye grasses. A mix that adds up to about 90% of these two grass seed types will grow well in either sun or light shade in western Washington. Turftype perennial ryegrass takes full sun and stands up to traffic. Turftype tall fescues are adapted to shadier locations. In combination, the mix works for a lawn in average light conditions.

In this area the best time to put grass seed down is in the spring during the months of April and May and in the fall during the month of September.

Ryegrass should be seeded at 20 to 25 lb/ac in October. The seeds are very small and ryegrass is an aggressive plant so broadcast application of the seeds works well. Ryegrass is a very competitive plant and will use up all of the nitrogen and a lot of the water in a pasture prior to the Bermuda grass greening up. If allowed to grow some height, it will also shade the Bermuda grass and inhibit its growth.

Most local nurseries now sell a variety of saltbush seedlings. Remember to ask them where the seed was sourced from and do they have any improved varieties. Seedlings usually cost around 25 cents each, but discounts may be given for large orders. Few agricultural seed suppliers stock saltbush seed. Generally larger native seed suppliers stock a variety of saltbush species, or often larger saltland farmers will sell seed direct.

It is almost impossible to keep ryegrass from reseeding itself. That being said, we do recommend that the pasture be reseeded with 5 to 10 lbs of seed per acre mixed in with fall fertilizer application to insure a healthy stand.

Why not? Remember, just before a snow, top dress with a light sprinkle of soil so the birds don’t think you’re a horticultural philanthropist.

It would be best if you measured each of you pastures yourself. Your county extension educator can provide you with instructions on how it is done. You can also go to your local N.R.C.S. office and find your pasture in the county soil survey. After determining what soil type the pasture is, you can then find the table that list average yields for native grass for that soil type.

The best way would be to defer grazing for 1 or two years. Leave cattle out of the pasture till after frost and get them off prior to spring green up. Native grass is a very resilient plant community and if the land has not been plowed in its prior history, with a little rest it will recover quite rapidly. If you cannot defer the grazing completely, consider reducing stocking rate by ½ for 4 or 5 years.

The definition of ”Grass Fed” is some, mostly or 100% grass fed. As more and more corporations begin using the term "Grass fed" it will be left up to the public to educate themselves as to what it really means. No matter how the market place changes in the coming years, "Pasture Finished Meats" will retain a definition true to our principles and valued among our customers.

There are many management scenarios that would work but one of the simplest would be to graze the native from April until June 30, then let it rest until after frost. This will lead to a healthy native grass stand. The Bermuda portion would be fertilized May 1 and August 30. It would then be grazed from July through November. Cattle would then wintered on the dormant native grass with the addition of a grain based supplement. Any left over Bermuda grass would be grazed as needed.

Tall Fescue is the most popular turfgrass in the mid-Atlantic region. It is a very adaptable grass, which grows in full sun or part shade. It is also the most heat and drought tolerant of the cool season grasses. Merrifield Tuff Play is a Tall Fescue blend mixed with a small amount of Kentucky Bluegrass. This combination of grasses develops a dense, wear resistant lawn for sun or part shade. Merrifield Shady Lawn Grass Seed is for use in heavy shade.

Spring and fall are excellent times to plant grass seed. For Kentucky bluegrass, temperatures should be around 80 degrees F. For details on how to plant grass seed, see our How To section.

Adopt six or seven cats. Seriously, though, cover the seed with one quarter inch of topsoil, pat down or roll gently. The faster it sprouts, the more you keep and the less the birds eat. You can also slit an old tennis ball and force it over the end of a six- to seven-foot piece of old garden hose. Draw two mean eyes and a nasty mouth, and place yellow strips of tape like Xs down the hose. Let this lie on the seeded area until the seed sprouts. Why? The birds think it’s a snake.

None, really. That’s not exactly true, but then they haven’t developed an Astroturf seed yet. There is no true shade grass; all grasses like some sun. However, the best of the bunch that can get along with less sun than the rest is Poa trivialis. Kentucky 31 tall fescue, Zoysia, Japonica, Zoysia matrella, Astoria bent, Highland and Penncross bents, as well as creeping red, Illahee, and Chew-lugs fescue, all will tolerate light shade.