Good grass for livestock and wildlife

[JeffK]

I have about 120 acres of b-dahl cows love it and makes good hay .

I planted a field on B-Dahl last year Andy cows love. It is a hearty grass that is drought resistant and fire ants don't like it.

Does it handle grassing pressure well? or better to rotate cows in and out?

[Stick Flicker]

Did you plant it?


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Yes sir i did.

[Stick Flicker]

Does it handle grassing pressure well? or better to rotate cows in and out?

Like anything else you need to rotate cow unless it gets a little rain and then it will out grow them .

[Stick Flicker]

Seems like it would make great cover for wildlife as well. Have you seen that be the case?

Yes have some Quail that hang around those fields and see deer in them all the time.

[Dushon]

Yes sir i did.

What did it end up costing/acre?


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[Dusty Britches]

side oats, buffalo grass, blue gramma, black gramma, big bluestem, little bluestem

And since you are in Buda, curly mesquite

[CaprockRoamer]

None of the native grasses compete that well tonage wise for cattle grazing, but the non native Bermuda does nothing for wild life.

Your local ag extension agent can tell you which native is best. They may have some financial assistance to convert to native.

I'm a little confused about this. I happen to know a guy that raises red stag, elk, and ibex. All of them are growing enormous racks on Bermuda grass. He may supplement some with protein but their primary diet is Bermuda.

[mmoses]

I'm a little confused about this. I happen to know a guy that raises red stag, elk, and ibex. All of them are growing enormous racks on Bermuda grass. He may supplement some with protein but their primary diet is Bermuda.

Keyword there is Native.

[Deerguy]

Depends which is more of a priority for you, cattle or wildlife. Most of the non-native 'improved' grasses (Bermuda, Bahia, old-world bluestems, Johnson, Dahl, etc.) have very little wildlife value and in most cases are detrimental to wildlife and the habitat. A good native mix from Bamert, Native American Seed, or Turner Seed that contains a diversity of grasses and forbs will be best for wildlife. Most are drought and disease tolerant as well. But, you can't graze them very hard. Wildlife and cattle can be entirely compatible, but at much lower stocking rates that most people have. Plus, a good rotational grazing strategy is much more important than stocking rate when considering habitat health and plant vigor.

[Etxnoodler]

Natives are very good for wildlife and cattle. Most native grasses such as big bluestem little blue stem yellow Indian have very deep roots and are much more drought resistant, also pull more mineral content, and hold their nutrients longer as stockpiled forage. The reason a lot of people say they are no good for cattle is you cannot park your cows on top of them and leave them there. A good rotation schedule will be Required to keep them established. They are expensive however and take a whle to establish so don’t think it is a failure when they don’t come up the first year. Most of the time it will take 2-3 before they really excel. You can get Forbes added to the mixture that benefit other wildlife as well.

[Stick Flicker]

What did it end up costing/acre?


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Been to long to remember seed was cheaper then.
Fields need to be plowed good then packed and seed dropped on it a good rain will cover seed .I have had this grass about 10 years

[CaprockRoamer]

Keyword there is Native.

Same sentence says non native Bermuda does nothing for wildlife. I've seen with my own two eyes what Bermuda does for his animals. There lies the confusion.

[mmoses]

Same sentence says non native Bermuda does nothing for wildlife. I've seen with my own two eyes what Bermuda does for his animals. There lies the confusion.

red stag, elk, and ibex are not wildlife in Texas(with the exception of few elk)

Im sure it does great stuff for grazing animals. Whitetail deer are not bigger grazers though.

[Deerguy]

Different animals all together. Different foraging strategies, different ruminoreticular volumes. All ruminants aren't created equal when it comes to food digestion. White-tailed deer are concentrate selectors and receive little nutritional value from slowly-digested food items. That's why deer eat very little grass, and even then, usually only when it is new spring growth. Whitetails have much too fast of a passage rate to fully break down the cellulose in grass material. many examples of whitetails dying of malnutrition with unlimited supplies of available grass. Exotics evolved in a completely different system, with most of them able to digest and do well on poor-quality grasses (fallow and axis are good examples). Has everything to do with gut morphology (and some microbial actions as well).

[buxNdux]

Different animals all together. Different foraging strategies, different ruminoreticular volumes. All ruminants aren't created equal when it comes to food digestion. White-tailed deer are concentrate selectors and receive little nutritional value from slowly-digested food items. That's why deer eat very little grass, and even then, usually only when it is new spring growth. Whitetails have much too fast of a passage rate to fully break down the cellulose in grass material. many examples of whitetails dying of malnutrition with unlimited supplies of available grass. Exotics evolved in a completely different system, with most of them able to digest and do well on poor-quality grasses (fallow and axis are good examples). Has everything to do with gut morphology (and some microbial actions as well).

THIS ^^^ and to add what he said those ungulates such as axis are extremely competitive to white-tailed deer due to their ability to selectively be browsers or grazers.. They can graze until there is little to no grass and selectively switch over to become browsers when the forb production is highest making them more efficient consumers. White-tail cannot survive on just grass as deerguy said.