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SOIL HEALTH IN PRACTICE - REAL SOLUTIONS FROM REAL FARMERS

Interseeding into Cool Season Perennials this for four years running and his fescue looks better than
ever, far better than that of his neighbors.
Cool season perennial grasses such as brome, bluegrass, Interseeding into a perennial stand is always challeng-
orchardgrass, and fescue require a great deal of nitrogen
fertility for optimum growth and usually grow very little ing. For the best chance of success, do not try to interseed
during peak perennial growth seasons, but interseed into
during the heat of summer. These factors have led some cool season pasture during the warm summer months.
people to experiment with drilling or broadcasting other
crops into these grasses to increase forage production or Also, weaker perennial stands give a better chance of estab-
lishing interseeded annuals, so consider grazing the peren-
fix nitrogen with interseeded legumes. Drilling spring peas,
lentils, or chickling vetch in either fall or early spring can nial stand hard before planting the warm season annuals.
provide both additional forage and nitrogen fixation as soon The goal of this is not to create a complete canopy, as would
as 60 days after planting, though these species are short- be the case on cropland, because we want some sunlight to
lived. Broadcasting or drilling a blend of red clover, ladino reach the underlying grasses. This is why the seeding rates
clover, annual lespedeza, chicory, and plantain in either late are lower than our typical summer annual mixtures used
summer or winter can extend the grazing season further on cropland. The light canopy creates a cooler microclimate
into summer, as well as provide all the nitrogen needs of that allows cool-season grasses to grow more than they
the stand. This blend takes a while to begin production, would otherwise in the summer. An additional benefit to
but the plants persist for many years. Doing both practices more diversity is better wildlife populations, ranging from
at the same time can provide excellent initial production deer to insects. Wildlife can not only provide more income
along with long term benefits. Teff grass or improved vari- opportunities through hunting or honey production but
eties of crabgrass can also be broadcast in spring to increase can also provide natural controls of many insect pests that
summer production. Crabgrass is very high quality and afflict pastures like alfalfa weevil or armyworms.
productive and reseeds itself well if not overgrazed.

Other innovators have discovered that they can graze cool
season pastures down in the late spring, then drill a blend
of warm season cover crops such as sorghum-sudangrass,
BMR grazing corn, pearl millet, cowpeas, okra, and sunn
hemp for grazing in late summer for an incredibly high
yielding pasture. This strategy can either provide better
summer pasture, or provide growth that can be stockpiled
over summer to add to fall grazing. One eastern Kansas
farmer has recorded yields of over eight tons per acre of
cover crop dry matter on this system, all produced after a
late June grazing of his fescue-clover pasture. He has done
Above: Cool season grass pasture with no interseeding.
Below: Same pasture, on the same day, but with an 8-way warm season interseed
mix. Tons of extra forage and lots of soil benefits! What’s not to like about this system?

Photos by Dale Strickler

Hidden treasures, like this pumpkin, are found in the understory of a diverse mix.
Vine crops like pumpkins, melons and squash grow very well in cover crop mix-
tures and are highly nutritious and readily consumed by livestock.

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