OCR Text |
Show RANCHERS SHOULD SEED PASTURES A number of our farmers and ranchers could provide more economical livestock feed by seeding their rangeland pastures, pas-tures, notes County Extension Agent Grant M. Esplin. Karl G. Parker, Utah State University extension range specialist, spe-cialist, explains that there are three favorable periods for seeding permanent pastures in Utah: early fall, late fall, and early spring. He says early fall is a good time for ranchers to seed pas- turfs in the southern corners and warmer parts of Utah when there has been abundant early fall rain and the soil is free of weedy plants and is well packed, ready for the grass drill. Late fall, from the third week in October until freeze-up, freeze-up, is a good time to plant the cool-season grasses in areas where rainfall comes mostly during the early spring months. Late fall seedings have an advantage ad-vantage at that time. The seeds are in the soil in the very early spring when growing grow-ing conditions become favor- able for germination and growth. The seedling can become be-come well established before the hot dry season. Parker says some alert grass men sometimes improve on fall seeding in such areas by grabbing grab-bing that rare, brief opportunity opportun-ity to drill grass seeds in early March just when the snow goes off and before the spring weather turns wet and cold again. Early spring is a good time for seeding pastures if your ranch is in one of the few areas where much of the rain comes during the late spring and summer months. Unfortunately Unfor-tunately this is not the situation situa-tion thruout most of Utah, the extension range specialist said. However, he noted that in most cases permanent irrigated irrigat-ed pastures should be seeded in the very early spring as early as possible. County Agent Esplin cites two general rules the University Univer-sity gives for seeding range-land range-land pastures anywhere: (1) Seed Just ahead of the rainy season so grass seedlings will have the least competition for moisture from weeds and there will be the least danger of wind blowing out or burying bury-ing the seed; (2) Always protect the soil surface from wind and water erosion during the time your grass is becoming established. |